


Dare the Truth

by TheAnonymouxCats



Category: Sonic Underground, Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Facing Fears, Horror, M/M, Multi, This story gets pretty fucked up, from bad to worse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-24
Updated: 2019-03-24
Packaged: 2019-11-29 08:10:13
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 23,289
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18220487
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheAnonymouxCats/pseuds/TheAnonymouxCats
Summary: When a terrible storm traps the members of the Resistance inside the Mobian Castle, boredom is unavoidable. To pass the time and maybe have some fun, Sonia pulls out an old board game their mother left behind: Truth or Dare. The game starts out innocently enough, until Sonic pulls a dare card and refuses to do what it says. Unfortunately, they don't have a choice. AU. Sonadow/Other





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I love this story. It's so fucked up.

**OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO**

**Summary -**

_When a terrible storm traps the members of the Resistance inside the Mobian Castle, boredom is unavoidable. To pass the time and maybe have some fun, Sonia pulls out an old board game their mother left behind: Truth or Dare. The game starts out innocently enough, until Sonic pulls a dare card and refuses to do what it says. Unfortunately, they don't have a choice. AU. Sonadow/Other_

**Warnings -**

This story is Rated M for dark themes, such as horror, gore, and violence. If you are sensitive to these themes, avoid reading. We are not responsible if you do end up reading despite our warnings. Complaints will be ignored, because we will assume you did not read this warning. Thank you.

**OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO**

* * *

**Dare the Truth**

**Prologue**

The Prince of Mobius let out a long, irritated sigh, watching the lightning flash in the distance, followed by the booming sound of thunder only a few minutes after. The night sky was hidden away behind the dark, ominous clouds, and all you could see passed the window pane was large, heavy drops of rain relentlessly tearing down on the thick glass.

He had called a meeting earlier this morning, with the other members of the Resistance, bringing them all together to discuss their current biggest problem; Dr. Eggman.

According to a report from Team Chaotix, the madman was working on the most dangerous scheme known to Mobius so far: nuclear weaponry. Apparently, he wasn't in possession of the dangerous chemicals needed to make the bombs, but he was building robots and a whole base dedicated to the project.

This had rang an alarm through the Prince's head, and he immediately got to work calling in everyone he could.

A little past dinner time is when everyone showed up.

Princess Sally Acorn from the Kingdom of Knothole, while Prince Rob O' the Hedge from the Kingdom of Soumerca, sent his cousin and Freedom Fighter Amy Rose in his stead. The Guardian Unit of Nations sent their best two agents: Rouge the Bat and Shadow the Hedgehog, while the Kingdom of Soleanna sent Princess Blaze the Cat. Espio and Mighty from Team Chaotix were present, while the twins, and Sonic's younger brother and sister, Sonia and Manic were present as well. Of course, Tails was there, along with the Guardian of the Master Emerald and Sonic's best friend, Knuckles himself joined them all from Angel Island.

The total of twelve had sat around a large table, discussing what they were going to do, how they were going to do it, and when they would do it. Of course, once the meeting was over, before everyone had a chance to leave to their respected areas, the storm thundered out of nowhere, trapping them all there.

Sonic turns around, watching the group of friends bicker back and forth around the brown table, centered in the large office that had been his mother's, and was now his.

He still refused to take her crown.

He takes in a deep breath and wipes his eyes. He was exhausted, more so than usual. Ever since Eggman went into hiding, he had been on complete edge, always jumping from here to there, running this way and that, trying to get everything done and locate the doctor at the same time. He needed a break, and yet now he had to deal with nuclear weaponry. Seriously, was a moment of rest too much to ask?

Then again… He looks out the window, sighing. Maybe Mother Nature decided he needed a break as well, and so she caused this storm to trap him in place. His mother use to tell him that if he didn't settle down and stop for a moment, something or someone else was going to make him.

"You okay, Sonic?"

The blue hero turns away from the window, down to the yellow fox that was slowly starting to grow some height. A smile curves the hedgehog's lips, and he chuckles. "Yeah, I'm good, just bored."

Tails smiles brightly, his namesakes swishing behind him. "Sonia and Amy should be back soon with something."

As if on cue, the doors to the large office swing open, reveling said pair. Sonia had a large, thin box in her hands, a devilish grin curving her lips. "We're back!"

Everyone looks up with frowns, and Sonic could feel the sweat drop down his head. "Is that a board game?"

"Absolutely not," Knuckles interrupts, sounding agitated. "Last board game we ever played ended up over someone's head."

Ignoring the snickering from Sonic, Tails, and Manic, Sonia smiles. "I promise this one will work out." She steps over to the table, setting the box down for everyone to see.

"'Truth or Dare'?" Rouge reads aloud, frowning. "How does this work?"

Sonia opens the box, while Sonic and Tails walk up to satisfy their curiosity. The magenta hedgehog explains as she opens up a large, folded board. "The game," she lays out the board, and they all stare. It was decorated in tiles that spiraled around, almost like a path of sorts. Sonia points to a spot on the edge of the board that says "START" and smiles, "starts here. After we get our player pieces set up, we will put them here. Then," she holds up a small die in between her index finger and thumb. "We roll a die, and whatever number comes up, is the number of spots you move your piece."

"I get it," Mighty speaks up. "Whatever we land on is what we gotta do."

The female hog nods, holding up two stacks of cards. Ones that said, "TRUTH" on them were green, while ones that said "DARE" were in orange. "You can either land on a truth, a dare, or a free space," she points to the white free space on the board. "The goal is to get to the center of the board in the middle of the spiral." Putting four different sets of truth and dare cards around the large board, she continues. "If you refuse to do a truth or dare, you have to pass. If you pass, you have to move back to where you were before. The first person to get to the center, wins."

"Sounds stupid," Shadow muttered, earning himself a glare from both Rouge and Sonia.

Sonic chuckles. "Don't be a sour puss."

While the black and red hedgehog glared at his blue rival, Amy finally speaks up. "It won't be so bad! This could be fun!"

Rouge shrugs. "I'm down for it."

Knuckles frowns a the bored. "How many players are there supposed to be? That's a lot of cards, and it's a big board…"

Sonia shrugs. "The more the merrier I guess. We're all playing, by the way," she looks to a certain streaked hedgehog, who turns his glare from Sonic to her. "Including you, Mr. Dark and Brooding."

Manic chuckles and Rouge smiles, patting the Ultimate Lifeform on the back. "Oh, come on! You're not afraid of anything, are you?"

Shadow crosses his arms, leaning back in his chair. "You're an idiot."

Espio finally gives his approval. "I'll play."

Sonia looks over to Sally and Blaze, who had been quiet the whole time. "You two good?"

Sally, who looked a bit uneasy with it, shrugged. "I suppose it can't hurt anything."

Blaze nods quietly; she had been tired the whole meeting.

They all look to Sonic now, who blinked multiple times. After realizing they, for some odd reason, wanted his approval, he smiles. "Sure, let's do it!"

Shadow sighs. He guessed he had no choice in the matter now.

After getting the table set up, Sonia passes out the player pieces. They were all small, round stones of multiples of color, translucent and smooth. They all put their pieces on the "START" spot, all frowning in union.

"Who's first?"

Manic had to be the one to ask the question. Everyone exchanges odd looks, before Knuckles grins. "How 'bout our fearless leader?"

Sonic glares at him. "Why me?"

The echidna shrugs. "Well, you are the one who called this meeting, Your Majesty."

Before Sonic could murder the ruby mobian next to him for calling him such a thing, Mighty speaks up. "All for Knuckles going first?"

Shadow snorts and everyone raises their hands.

"What?!" the guardian exclaims. "Why me?!"

"You're first, darling," Rouge teases. "Or are you scared?"

With a face redder than his fur, the echidna mutters a few curses under his breath. "Whatever. I'll go since you guys are all babies."

Sonic grins, rubbing his forehead in exasperation.

The echidna picks up the small die, before rolling it across the board. Three, little, black dots showed up, and he frowned. "This is gonna be a long night."

A few murmurs and chuckles of agreement followed, as he picked up his play piece and moved it three spots. "Truth? Really?"

"You sound disappointed," Sally commented, raising a brow at him. She certainly wouldn't want a dare…

The echidna shrugs and takes a random Truth Card, reading it over with a frown.

Everyone watched him in anticipation, wondering what he could have gotten.

He blinks several times, before frowning. "What the hell?"

"What's it say?" Sonic asks, speaking the question everyone was thinking.

The echidna holds it up and reads it aloud. "It says, 'You have to give up one of two thing: Your most prized possession, or your most dear friend. Which one will you give up?'"

"So," Rouge grins. "Who's your dearest friend?"

The echidna looked oddly uncomfortable with this. "I guess I would give up my most prized possession…"

"Isn't that the Master Emerald?" Tails asks.

Sonia raises a brow. "Whoever your dearest friend is must be really important to you…"

The guardian leans back in his seat. "I wouldn't ever choose the Master Emerald over anyone. That isn't right." He seems to glance over to his right, where Sonic was watching him with an unreadable look on his face. "I can rebuild the Master Emerald, I can't bring people back to life."

"That's gotta be the most meaningful thing I've ever heard you say," Mighty says with a grin. "Funny, though…" he drawls slowly. "I feel like I've heard someone else say that before…" His eyes danced to a certain blue hedgehog, who was grinning, but quiet. Was that a blush he saw?

Knuckles gives him a glare so menacing, it even impressed Shadow. Sonic started laughing quietly, while Tails smiled.

Both Rouge and Sonia seemed to be very interested in the situation now. It was obvious at this point who Knuckles's dearest friend was, but never had they seen Sonic blush so darkly. They could tell he was trying to hide it, but was failing miserably at it. They both inwardly decided to interrogate the hedgehog later…

"How are we going to decide who's next?" Amy asked, oblivious to the situation. They all exchange looks, before Espio speaks up.

"We can go around the table," he offers.

"Yeah, but which way?" Rouge asks.

Sonia smiles. "I think since we forced Knuckles to go first, we'll let him decide."

The echidna smirks, and they all saw the evil twinkle in his eye. On his left was Sally, but on his right…

Sonic let out a defeated sigh. "Alright, alright, I'll go."

Grabbing the die, he rolls it, an irritated look on his face. There was still a hint of a blush there, but it was mostly gone now.

A six rolls up, and he shoots a cocky smirk to the echidna who glowered at him in return. He wasn't sure how fortunate he was to land on a Truth spot, however.

Taking a green card, his smirk fades completely, and he only glares at the card.

"What's wrong?" Manic asks, not sure if he wanted to know by the look on his brother's face. The hero seemed disturbed.

Looking up, Sonic shoots Sonia a suspicious look. "You didn't rig this, did you?"

The girl blinks in surprise. "What?"

Knuckles seems to realize something then. "Yeah, it was kind of odd how my question pertained to me, exactly."

The princess huffs. "Are you kidding me? With how many players, and how random it is, how on Mobius would I rig this?"

Sonic doesn't seem convinced, but he looks at his card anyway. "Whatever you say, sis."

Before he could even consider his answer to the card, Knuckles snatches it out of his hand. "Hey!"

The echidna grins a mile wide. "Oh, now I see why you're skeptical."

Sonic glares the depths of hell at his friend, his green eyes practically flames of destruction.

Knuckles holds it up, clearing his voice as if he were about to make a speech. "It says, 'You have to pick one of your worst fears, and face it. Which one will you pick?'"

Sonic slumped in his seat, tapping his fingers on the table irritably. "I'm already facing it," he mutters dryly.

"So," Manic knew his death was just around the corner, "swimming lessons?"

It took everyone's will power to hold in their laughs as a Chaos Spear shot across the table, just nearly missing a yelping green hedgehog.

Sonic waves the smoke from his hand, scowling. "No. I'm not afraid of water, I just don't like it."

"Then what is your worst fear, hmm?" Sonia coos, smirking.

"Admitting what his worse fear is," Knuckles stated, watching Sonic's ears pin back.

Everyone seemed to agree to that, and Sonic muttered a few curses under his breath in multiple different languages. "Are you kidding me? Why would I be stupid enough to tell you, especially," he points at Knuckles, "my fears?"

"Tails, what's his worst fear?" Mighty asks, watching Sonic turn to glare at him. This was fun…

The yellow fox sweatdrops. "The only thing I know he doesn't like is water and spiders."

Sonic's eyes widen and Knuckles burst out into laughter.

"Spiders?!" The echidna laughs. "Do you have Tails kill them every time you find one?"

Sonic wanted to die. Giving Tails a warning look that spoke of many threats, he throws the die to his right. "Moving on!"

"But you didn't answer!" Rouge interrupts. Sonia holds up her hand before her older brother could become a murderer. "I think we've tortured him enough. Tails, it's your turn."

The fox had a bad feeling about this. Ignoring the chuckling echidna and a now angsty Sonic, he grabs the die and rolls it…

"Another Truth?" Amy says, blinking in surprise.

The fox moved his pieces three times, wondering if he should be happy with this or not.

Hesitantly grabbing the iconic green card, he holds it up and reads it to himself. A look of horror spread over his face, and Sonic blinked, all threats thrown out the window, 'big brother mode' on.

"What's up, bud?" he asks, as Tails hands him the card.

Sonic frowns, reading it aloud. "'What would you rather do: See the person you love the most die, or have them disappear and not know what happened to them?'" He glares at the card. "Wow, that's dark. Seriously, what the heck?"

He drops the card in the 'used' pile and looks at Sonia. "Who made this game again?"

The girl frowns, shrugging. "I have no idea. It was with mother's stuff, so Chaos knows where she got it from."

Sonic frowns, not saying a word.

Tails was, in the meantime, trying to figure out the deep question.

Sonic. Would he want to see him die? Of course not, but, would he want him to disappear and not know what happened to him?

"I think," Tails said quietly, bringing back everyone's attention. "I think I would rather have that person disappear, because even though they might not be here with me, they could still be alive out there…"

Sonic's eyes widen at that, and the girls of the group couldn't help the small smiles that curved their lips.

"You can tell who raised him," Rouge says softly, and the kitsune smiles proudly. Sonic doesn't say a word, just leans back in his chair and crosses his legs over the other. His face, as always, was unreadable.

Manic lets out a weak breath of air, grabbing the die. "I guess I'm next, huh?"

"Good luck," Knuckles mutters. Tails got an easy one.

The green hedgehog tosses the die, watching the number with a skeptical frown. "Okay, why don't we all just do Truth?"

He scored a six, right next to his brother, and with a huff of slight frustration, he pulls his card.

His ears pull back. "Okay, this is just mean."

They all watched him, not sure about this anymore.

"What's wrong?" Sonia asks, and the younger of the two twins reads out his card.

"'If you could bring someone back that you have lost, but have to give up someone else you love in return, would you, and who would you give up?'" he drops the card. "Does money count?"

Sonia sighs. "That is kind of a mean question." She looked sad, and Manic couldn't help but look at his older brother, who decided to keep his emotions to himself, and keep a blank face.

The green hedgehog sighs. "I guess it would be nice to bring mother back, but, I don't think it's right to give up someone else in her place. I mean, if someone brought me back for someone else, I'd feel guilty as hell…"

Sonia gives him a soft smile. Sonic was still, by all definition, a brick wall.

Rouge frowns. "Is anyone else seriously creeped out that you've all gotten Truth in a row?"

"Let's see what you get," Knuckles says with a grin.

Rouge groans, grabbing the die and rolling it. "Oh, how sweet," she says slowly, sarcasm dripping from her voice, "I get to be stuck on the same one as Knuckles."

"This game should be called 'Truth or Truth,'" Mighty mutters.

The ivory bat grabs her green card, a bit nervous considering everyone else's truths had been a bit…odd. Reading it, she frowns.

"'If both you and your dearest friend wanted the same thing, but only one of you could have it, would you give it to them to save your friendship, or keep it for yourself and ruin it forever?'" She looks up with a sideways smirk. "I take it this doesn't include Chaos Emeralds and a grumpy hedgehog?"

Shadow rolled his eyes, and Sonic finally chuckled. Knuckles leans back in his seat, raising a brow. "You'd keep it for yourself, wouldn't you?"

She scoffs. "Oh, please. You act like I haven't already given up anything already for someone."

He glares at her. "Master Emeralds don't count. You had to give that up without choice."

"He's right you know," Manic chuckles, causing Rouge to pout.

The bat sighs, dropping the card on the used pile. What would this even refer to then? If both she and her friend wanted something, but only one of them could have it…

Her brows furrow as she thinks.

"I guess I would save my friendship, maybe...depending on what it is we're fighting over."

Sonic holds a hand up to his mouth, grinning. "Cough-cough-Knuckles-cough…"

The echidna's eyes widen, and Rouge looks up in surprise. "What?!"

Sonic waved them away. "What? I didn't say anything."

Tails and Manic were giggling to themselves, as Sonia glared her brother down.

Mighty decided to throw his two cents in. "That's a fight I'd like to see…"

Both Rouge and Sonia whipped around to glare at him, and he flinched. Knuckles sunk down in his chair, not wanting anything to do with this. Sonic was wheezing, trying not to laugh, as Manic wiped away his tears of laughter.

Rouge and Sonia were good friends, and hung out nearly all the time, but when it came to Knuckles, things could get cold…

Sonic seems to realize something, and a devious grin curves his lips. "Guess who gets to go next?"

Shadow was already scowling at him. It was if he had been prepared for Sonic to say something, but it still ticked him off, nonetheless.

Rouge perks up then, her rage completely forgotten. "Oh, here!" she hands him the die. She needed to see this.

Shadow sighs, taking the die, sitting up from his slouched position in his chair. Dropping the die lightly on the table, they watch as a six rolls up.

Next to Sonic and Manic, everyone could only groan. At this point, they had a feeling no one was going to get a dare.

The dark hedgehog takes a card, pondering why the hell he was even doing this. With a frown, he reads it to himself, as Rouge leans over and tilts her head. The female reaches over, snatching the card from her friend, earning herself a glare. "It says," she started with a curious frown. "'If you were the last person on Mobius, and got to choose one other person to stay with you, who would you pick?'"

She tosses the card away with a huff. "That one's easy…"

He raises a brow. "Why would I pick you?"

She turns to face him, startled. "I didn't mean me. I was thinking of a certain someone in this room who I won't name."

Everyone perked up. Who? Everyone was more than curious to know who Shadow would pick, and why he would pick them…

Shadow looked peeved at the bat, his eyes narrowing. "How in the world would you know?"

She smiles, almost too sweetly. "Darling, there isn't much you can hide from me. I find out whether you want me to or not."

He shakes his head, muttering something about bats under his breath.

"I'm passing on this one," he finally answers.

Rouge mock-pouts. "Aw, how come?"

Sonic looked a bit disappointed as well. "Yeah, I wanted to know."

"Well too bad," Shadow stated, ignoring the two's annoying whining. He supposed he was stuck on 'START,' but it was better than the alternative.

Espio was next in the circle, and he didn't look amused by it at all. With a sigh, he takes the die and rolls it.

"This game is rigged," Sonic said, now truly convinced. "I mean, is next round only going to be dares?"

"But that's impossible," Tails frowns. "There are six different spots you could land on right now: One, Three, and Six are all Truths. Two and Four are Dares, and Five is a free space, so it's completely random."

"There's a half chance you'll get Truth compared to a free space or Dare, so the fact that everyone so far has gotten nothing but Truth is kinda creepy," Blaze, who had been quiet the whole time, finally speaks up.

Tails looked down at the board with a thoughtful frown. "But it can't be rigged…unless you can rig a die."

"I think it would be pretty obvious if it were rigged," Sally said. "The sides would be the same."

Espio had already grabbed his card, and began reading it to himself, while everyone else discussed the possibly rigged board.

He was also convinced the game was rigged. All the Truth questions somehow pertained to each of them. Mighty nudges the chameleon next to him and raises a brow. "What's it say?"

The purple reptile frowns. "It says, 'Would you rather reveal your deepest secret, or have nobody notice you for the rest of your life?'"

"That's creepy," Manic said, his ears falling back.

Espio frowned, putting his card down on the pile neatly. "People can get over secrets, so I suppose I would rather reveal it than become a ghost."

Mighty grins, taking the die. "That's really humble coming from someone who can turn invisible whenever he wants."

"It's not invisible," the chameleon mutters, sounding offended.

Knuckles and Sonic couldn't help but chuckle, while Mighty rolled a three. Glaring at the die that may or may not be rigged, he grabs another green card and wonders what hell it has to ask him.

"Aw, this one's sad," he says, frowning, and before anyone could ask him what it said, he read aloud: "'If you had to decide, would you: Always have friends by you, but you're are always sad or angry, or always be happy, and never have even one friend?'"

"Oh," Sonia chirps up. "Why don't you ask Shadow?"

The dark hedgehog glares at her, as Manic adds; "Or Sonic on one of his bad days?"

Sonic grits his teeth, turning to look at his younger brother with a raised eyebrow and narrowed eyes. "Dude, what is your deal today?"

The green hero shrugs. "I'm being honest."

Mighty chuckles, before looking at his card. "I don't know, really. I wouldn't want my friends to be around me if I was always mean and bitter, but I wouldn't want to be alone if I were happy…"

They were all quiet, wondering what they would pick. After a minute, Mighty shakes his head. "I can't choose, so I'll pass."

He tosses the card to the used pile, before handing the die over to Sonia on his right. The girl gives a weak smile, not sure if she really wanted to play. Another Truth is rolled, and with a sigh, she reaches over and grabs her card.

"'If two of the people you love were both in danger, and you had a choice to save one of them, who would you choose?'" She scowls. "Well, this brings back some memories."

Sonic and Manic exchange the same, uncomfortable looks. Being trapped in roboticizers, forcing Sonia to really think about what she would do. She had rescued Sonic first, so he could go get to Manic before the robotization started. Sonic chuckles. "I have a feeling it isn't talking about that…"

"About what?" Knuckles asks, curious. Sonic waves him away, not wanting to talk about it. Sonia sighs, knowing her brother was right. "I have to pass on this question. It was hard enough for me then, I never want to do that again."

Both brothers seemed relieved, as the die was passed to…a sleeping Blaze.

Sonic starts laughing, and Sonia sweatdrops. "Poor girl," she murmurs. She looks up at Sonic, nodding towards her. "You wanna take her?"

He nods, grinning, standing up. Walking over, he carefully scoops her up, gently, as if she were a treasure. Knuckles grins, watching Sonic walk out of the office.

Sonia waves at the echidna, putting a finger to her lips. "Leave him alone, Knuckles."

The echidna raises a brow. "What? I didn't say anything."

"You were thinking it," the female huffs.

Manic chuckles, and Rouge raises a brow. "What's so funny?"

Knuckles nods to the door. "Sonic has a thing for Blaze."

Amy and Sally both looked up, looking a bit startled. Mighty perked up, while Shadow sank low into his chair. Rouge tilted her head. "He does? Since when?"

"Since they met," Tails answers. "He's always liked her. I think he grew interested in her when he saw how she fought, and how she can keep up with him."

If Tails said it, it was true.

Knuckles folds his hands behind his head, smirking. "I caught them in a moment around when we first met her."

"A moment?" Mighty asks. "What kind of moment?"

"Guys, shut up and leave Sonic alone," Sonia huffs, sitting back. "He finally found someone he wants to give a chance, and I don't want it ruined."

Rouge frowns, looking over to her right. Shadow looked over at her with a scowl and a raised brow. Knuckles holds up his hands innocently. "What? I never said I would ruin it…"

"Just don't talk about it," Manic finally said. "Sonia's right. He has a hard time trusting people, so this is kind of a big thing."

Sally looked guilty, while Amy crossed her arms defiantly. Mighty leaned forward on his hand, his elbow propped up on the table. "So, if Blaze can't play, does that mean Amy's next?"

The pink girl suddenly looked up, her eyes wide. "I'm not, really sure I should…"

Sonia raises a brow. "Why? You were all over it when we found it."

Amy gives her a half lidded glare. "Yeah, that was before it got creepy. These questions are dark, we're all getting Truth…" she trails off, and the group got her meaning.

Sonia shrugs. "Yeah, but this is only our first round. I'm sure it'll get better."

Amy sighs, taking the die. "Oh, alright." With a flick of her wrist, she rolls the die. They all watch the number one come up.

"Oh, how'd I know?" she mutters sarcastically, grabbing the green card. She holds it up, reading it out loud.

"'What makes a person, by definition, 'bad'? Do you think you are a bad person?'"

She frowns, putting the card down. "No, I don't think I'm a bad person."

"What do you think makes a person bad?" Tails asks, and she frowns, running a hand through her bangs.

"Well, they have to be mean. Oh, and selfish. They will do anything to get what they want, even if it means hurting others. They hurt people for fun, and tear apart anything they don't like just because they want to." She looked at the table. "Just like Eggman."

They all seemed to agree with her.

"Sounds about right," Sonic chirped as he walked through the door, plopping down in his chair. He earns himself a bright smile from the pink hedgehog, who was more than happy he agreed with her.

"Is she okay?" Tails asks quietly, slightly concerned for their feline friend. Sonic winks at him. "She's just exhausted, bud. That whole Mephiles thing still has her down."

Amy turns to Sally, holding out the die. The chipmunk sighs, taking the die. Honestly, she was considering bed herself. With a yawn, she rolls the small die, and everyone watches the three roll up. She shakes her head, reaching for the famous green card.

"'You get two choices: You can go back in time and fix a past mistake, or you can see into the future of your life with those mistakes.'" She frowns. That was an iffy one.

Sonic laughs lightly. "Let's call Silver for advice."

Everyone groans. Manic holds his hands up over his ears. "Oh, please don't. I mean, he's a good kid and all, but Chaos is he a mess."

"Don't be mean," Sally says weakly, although she agreed with him inside.

"You know," Sonia says. "He does kind of have a world on his shoulders…"

"You mean time?" Knuckles corrects.

She shakes her head, rubbing her eyes. "Why do I even bother?" she mutters.

Knuckles looks to Sally on his left, ignoring the magenta hedgehog. "So, what?"

Sally had to think about it. Time was an iffy thing. Sonic always told everyone everything happens for a reason, but… To start over, to fix what she did wrong. She knew she was the reason Sonic was so untrusting and paranoid about other people, and if she could just fix that for him, and what they had as a couple…

She sighs. "I suppose I would want to fix my past mistakes."

"Don't we all," Manic mutters, but truthfully. "When I first met Sonic, I made the mistake of having a chili dog eating contest with him…"

Sonic couldn't stop the laughs that broke his lips, as Manic leans his head on the table. "My poor stomach…"

Sonia had to giggle, along with Amy and Tails. "Well, I guess that's our first round. Knuckles, it's your turn again."

The echidna rolls his eyes, taking the die from Sally. "Why?" He rolls the die. "I'm just gonna get another…truth?"

A four came up, and, after moving his player piece four spaces, he landed on a white spot.

"A free space? Really?" He grins. "This is sad, but…I feel really victorious right now."

Sonic groans as the die was thrown in his direction. "That isn't fair…"

Everyone else was a bit startled by this change, and all watched with curious eyes as Sonic rolled a five.

As his piece landed on a orange spot, he didn't know whether to cringe or feel relieved. He supposed he would leave that up to the card, as he reaches over and grabs the one labeled "DARE".

They watch him read it, his expression going from irritated, to horrified. He looks up, turning to Sonia with narrowed eyes. "Okay, yeah it was funny, haha, but seriously, this game is rigged."

Sonia frowns. "I told you, it's not. Why? What's wrong?"

He stares at her, a bit bewildered. Everyone was watching him now in slight worry. He looks down at the card, before shaking his head. "It's rigged. There's no way."

He holds the card over to Sonia, who reaches over and grabs it quickly. When she reads it, her eyes widen. "N-No, that's not fair…" She looks up and points to the other dare cards. "Grab another one. A random one."

He frowns at her, before reaching over to the pile of cards. He lifts it up, grabs one from almost the bottom, and holds it up, reading it. He drops it as if it had burned him.

"What? That can't be right…" He turns the cards around in his hands, looking through all of them, reading all of them.

His face pales.

"Sonia…where did you get this game from, exactly?"

Rouge sits up first, followed by everyone else. Manic reaches over and grabs a stack of cards, reading them for himself. Sonia shakes her head frantically. "I…I got it from mother's old closet. It was underneath one of the bigger chests in there. The one that has the gap underneath."

Sonic looks at her, his eyes wide. "It was under there, like you mean it was hidden or something?"

She drops the card in her hands, grabbing the box the game had come in. Manic jumps up, his eyes wide. "Dude, this is terrifying!"

Rouge couldn't help it, as well as some of the others. She grabs the stack of cards in front of her, reading some of them.

"'…see how long you can hold your breath under water….find the smallest space where you are…" She looks up, startled. "These are all…"

"…Sonic's fears…" Knuckles finishes, looking up from his own cards. "And they repeat, like no matter what card he picks, it'll be one of them."

"How is that possible?" Sally asks. "How does that just happen?"

Espio leans forward, grabbing a few Truth cards. "The cards we picked the first round all pertained to us somehow. Sonic's fears. Knuckles's emerald. Sonia's decision. Shadow's immortality."

They all exchanged the same looks. Sonia looks up from the box. "I-It says that it was made by the Majics…"

"What is Majics?" Knuckles asks. Tails answers shakily.

"The…the Majics were black magic users from ancient Mobius, who experimented on different creatures to see what brings out the darkness in them."

Sonic drops the cards. "They're told about in a lot of horror stories and urban legends…" He looks over at Sonia. "Mom had a board made by the Majics… I bet you she was forced to play it and took it from the wrong hands when she had the chance."

Sonia swallows. "Why wouldn't she keep it somewhere safer? Or at least tell us about it? This thing can be dangerous."

"So…" Rouge starts slowly. "This thing is like, a Ouija board, or a pentagram or something?"

Sonia nods. "Yes, exactly. That's what the Majics made. They made many different things like this: games, food, clothing, books… ordinary objects that seem harmless, but will eventually tear a person apart."

"These Truth cards are all blank," Espio said, holding them up. They all stare at them, watching the chameleon drop down a set of blank cards.

"They change, depending on whose turn it is," Shadow said, with narrowed eyes. "That's why we all got Truth the first round."

"Then why did Knuckles get a free pass?" Mighty questions. "And why does Sonic have this…thing?"

"Oh my gosh…" Sonia breathes. "Knuckles answered his Truth…"

"Sonic didn't…" Manic finishes slowly.

"Wait," Knuckles sits up. "That means that, whoever passed on their Truth, will get a Dare like this one…pertaining to that Truth…"

"Oh, no…" Sonia sits back down, rubbing her forehead. "Oh, mother why'd you have to leave this here?"

Sonic sighs, shaking his head. "Well, we're not playing this anymore." He reaches over and goes to pick up the player pieces. "We'll just put it away and…huh?"

He tried to pick up his player piece, and it wouldn't move.

It wouldn't budge, as if it were glued to the board.

"The hell?" he questions, trying to then pick up the board.

It was stuck, glued to the table, as if it were part of the wooden surface.

Knuckles stands up, as well as Manic, all three trying to move the dark board.

"It's…it's stuck to the table!" Knuckles exclaims.

This freaked them all out. Almost everyone was on their feet, trying to pick up the game board.

"Aw, forget it!" Sonic exclaims, throwing his hands up. "Let's just…leave it here for now. We'll deal with this in the morning or something." Everyone steps back as he turns away. "If we can't get rid of it, we'll just have Blaze burn it up."

Sonia lets out a tired sigh. Knuckles gives the blue hero a nervous look. "We won't be like, cursed or anything from this, right?"

Sonic frowns, looking at the board with skepticism. It was possible…

"There's a book here," Sonia says softly, holding it up. "I'll read over it and see what we can do. In the meantime, we should all get some rest or something."

Rouge sighs. "We go from our biggest enemy being Eggman, to a board game. How nice."

Mighty couldn't help but chuckle. "It could be worse. I mean, like you said, Ouija boards are bad. We could be up against an evil banana or something weird."

Sonic was heard laughing as he left the office, and Knuckles sweatdrops.

"A banana? Really?"

Mighty grins. "That's what I'm saying."

* * *

Sonic sighed, closing his eyes, letting the hot shower water pour down his head, through his quills, enjoying the heat and comfort. He might hate water, but showers were to die for.

He needed a moment to relax, clearing his shaky mind from everything that had happened within the past few days. First nuclear bombs, then a evil board game…

He shakes his head, wiping his eyes.

It was times like this he really missed her. His mother was the only one he could just sit down with, in her lap, and let everything out. She was the only one that he could rant to, cry to, go to just when he needed someone to be with. She gave him advice, she gave him strength, she gave him the parental love he had missed so much of growing up on his own. With her being gone, he had so much more on his shoulders. Mobius was waiting on him to take the crown, become the King and such, but he just couldn't bring himself to do it… It just didn't feel right to him.

The water temperature started to weaken, going from hot to warm. He sighs, turning around, knowing he had been in the shower for far too long. Reaching for the nozzle to turn off the water, he makes a mental note to have Tails invent something that would keep the water hot no matter how long he stayed in there. Then, he stopped.

He was trying to turn the nozzle, but it wouldn't turn.

Frowning, he turns it again, the thing not even moving an inch. It was as if it were a model, not even real, fixed to the shower wall like a display…

"What in the world…?" He murmurs.

Turning, he goes to open the shower door…

It wouldn't move either.

Blinking, he looks up… Since when did the shower doors go all the way up to the ceiling?!

"What the hell?!"

He steps back, eyes wide. The water was now getting cold, and as he looked down, his feels his breath catch in his throat.

The water was filling the tub, quickly now, and before he knew it, it was up to his ankles…

He looks up, back at the shower doors. An eerie feeling made his quills rise a bit. The water temperature was now ice cold, causing him to shiver slightly. He reached for the shower doors again, but jumped back when his fawn furred hands touched something odd and…stringy? It was almost clear and unseeable, but when he stepped back and looked at it in the light…

His heart froze, and as he realized what was happening, that there was a spider web now covering the doors completely, he felt something on his foot…

He jumped up, a weak cry breaking his lips. There was one, now two, now three and more, spiders swimming in the quickly rising water!

The board…

He couldn't believe it. Here he was, trapped in a small space, unable to run, spiders everywhere, water rising…

He didn't want to admit his worst fears. He didn't want to play the game…

…and now the game was playing him.

* * *

Rouge drops the cards, frowning. "According to the cards, Sonic is afraid of losing his voice."

Sonia looks up from the book in her slightly shaky hands. "Yeah, that's because when he was little, he had a problem with his voice. According to Dr. Quack and mother, he has a permanent disability where his 'voice box', so to speak, is damaged beyond repair. The only reason he can talk is because of his Chaos Energy."

Knuckles looks up. "Really? I mean, he loves to sing and everything…"

Sonia nods sadly. "Yeah, whenever he runs too low on Chaos Energy, he'll lose his voice. He hates it, because he feels like no one will ever listen to him." She pauses, sighing. "Or, that's what we think. He wouldn't ever admit that."

Rouge smiles sadly. "Not with that ego of his. I have the same problem with Shadow."

Sonia smiles in return. "You treat him like he's your kid or something."

The bat winks. "That's what it feels like sometimes. Like he's my kid or a little brother."

A certain yellow fox pokes his head in the door, a worried look on his muzzle. "Uh…guys…?"

The three look up, startled by his weak tone.

"What's wrong?" Knuckles asks.

The kitsune swallows. "Sonic's bedroom door is covered in spider webs…"

* * *

He tried to scream, but he couldn't. He couldn't make a sound. The water had rose so quickly, too quickly, and at this point he was beyond terrified. Maybe it wouldn't have been so bad, if it weren't for the hundreds of spiders swimming around with him. He hated them. He hated them so much…

The water was at his chest, yet there was nothing he could do. He had no Chaos Energy, somehow, and felt sick…

…and then suddenly the doors were broken down, and he ran forward, screaming as he ran straight into Knuckles's arms.

Tails, Shadow, Sonia, Rouge, and Manic all stood there, wide eyed and mouths agape. The water rushed out, hundreds of little spiders spreading across the bathroom floor.

Sonic was shaking violently in Knuckles's arms, screaming and cursing and whining, wiping himself off, crying for the spiders to get off of him.

The echidna tried desperately to get the hero to calm down, shushing him and murmuring softly to him. Shadow, who had helped Knuckles break down the door, turned around and looked to Sonia. "We have to play the game, don't we?"

The girl could only stare, wide eyed, her face pale, as Knuckles led her hyperventilating brother out of the room.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter One - Let's Play**

The group sat around the table, eyes wide and dull. The board sat in the middle of them, seeming to taunt them.

The doors to the office opened, bringing their eyes to the group of three walking in. Sonic was in the middle, looking ruffled and shaken, his eyes slightly red. He wore a thick, soft blanket over his shoulders, and his feet skidded over to his chair for him to plop down with a huff. Knuckles and Sonia had been with him, and they gave him nervous looks as they took their seats at the table as well.

They were all quiet, none of them saying a word. There was an ominous coat of air weighing down on them, and they all looked back to the board, a few of them glaring at it.

"We have to play," Manic said grudgingly.

A few curses and groans echoed his comment, and Sonic's head fell forward to rest on the table.

Tails gives his friend a concerned look. "You feeling any better?"

Sonic nods, but doesn't move or say another word.

"Sonic's player piece is still on Dare…" Mighty comments, causing a blue head to shoot up immediately. Sonia sits up and reaches over, grabbing the game piece, or at least trying to. "It…it still won't move…"

Sonic paled, and Tails jumped up. "He still has to do his Dare?"

"What does the book say?" Rouge asks, her eyes widening in worry. Sonia looks down, before frowning and reaching to where she had dropped the book in panic earlier. She holds up it, her blue eyes quickly scanning the pages in fear.

"It…it says: 'A player will be cursed with their dare until they accept and complete it. The longer they wait to complete the dare, the worse the curse will get…'" She looks up at Sonic, who seemed mortified by this. "The…the game will be 'frozen' until we do the dares…"

"So we can't just stop playing or pass on our Dares?" Manic asks. "What's the point in passing then?"

"There is none," Sally speaks up. "We're stuck with it until we finish the game."

Tails shakes his head. "No! There has to be a way to get rid of the board…"

"You can try looking it up," Sonia says, her eyes skimming the book's pages, "but it doesn't say how else to break the curse…"

"Of course it wouldn't," Shadow mutters, "because it wants us to play."

Tails jumps out of his chair and runs out of the office, making them all perk up. Knuckles looked over to Sonic, giving his friend a worried look. "What if there is no way?"

The blue hero didn't answer, just watched the door for Tails to come back in. His silence made them nervous, but it was understandable.

Amy looked at Sonia with flatten ears. "How long does it take for another curse to happen? Like if he doesn't do his dare in so long?"

Sonia looks back at the book. "It doesn't say. I suggest we all stick together, though, just in…" she freezes, looking up at Sonic, who's eyes were still glued to the door. "Knuckles go make sure Tails is okay," she says, watching her brother tense up, his quills raising. The echidna bolted out of his chair, running out of the room.

One of Sonic's fears was something happening to Tails. If it wasn't his worst fear, it definitely was up there.

Emerald eyes and blue ears remained alert, waiting for Tails and Knuckles to come back. He was stiff and still like a statue, and they all sat there, holding their breaths.

When the two came back in, Tails's eyes widened. The fox held a laptop in his arms, and both he and Knuckles were panting slightly from running.

Sonic let out a breath of air and closed his eyes, relief flooding his senses. Losing Tails was not something he could do right now…

The entire group seemed to relax, as the little fox apologized. "S-Sorry. I wasn't really thinking, I just wanted to see if there was anything we could do to stop this." He puts his computer on the table, his sky blue eyes meeting Sonic's. "Sorry, Sonic."

The hedgehog just waves him away. "It…It's fine. Just try and see if there's anything you can do…"

The golden kit nodded and got to work right away, his fingers flying over the keyboard in concentration. Sonia lets out a somewhat dry laugh. "I just remembered…I passed on my Truth Card…"

"So did I," Mighty says weakly. He looks over at a certain black and red hedgehog. "You did too."

Shadow scowled.

Manic leans back in his seat, putting a hand on his chest. "Oh thank Chaos I didn't… I don't even wanna know what my Dare would have been…"

"What about mine?" Sonia asks nervously. Sonic and Manic both share the same worried expression.

Rouge nudges Shadow lightly, making him rub his forehead. He didn't even want to know what his Dare would be.

A few more minutes of silence passed, the only sounds being of Tails typing, and Knuckles playing with the die of doom.

Only a few minutes more and Sonic starting coughing.

All heads flew up, as the blue hedgehog turned his head and coughed into his hand, seemingly without pause. The coughing continued, even as he pushed his chair away from the table, turning to stand up and practically double over in his coughing fit. Sonia and Manic both flew to their feet, running over to their brother in fear. Tails swallowed and turned back to his computer, anxiety flooding him as he tried to search for answers.

"Get some water!" Sonia calls to anyone, and Rouge was the first to respond, jumping up and running over to the small fridge in the back of the room. Sonic would not stop coughing, and he had a good feeling why.

After all, coughing until you couldn't breathe was just about as bad as drowning…

His head felt all the pressure, his throat burned, his lungs ached for air, and he couldn't stop himself from falling to his knees and nearly curling up, as he tried to inhale and gasp for air, only to break out into more coughs.

His heart was pounding viscously in his chest, fear of not being able to breathe making him feel even worse. The whole group was up now, besides Tails, who was still at his computer, and Sonia took the glass of water from Rouge and tried to get Sonic to sit up a bit.

"Easy, brother. Try to drink this…"

He shakes his head, burying his face in his elbow, tears stinging his eyes from the pain in his chest. His vision was dancing on the edge of darkness, and his ears were ringing too loudly to properly hear anything right.

While the small group tried to get Sonic to drink the water, Sally leaned over Tails's shoulder. "Are you finding anything?"

Tails shakes his head. "E-Everything I'm finding isn't good. It looks like you can't fight the Majics at all. Those who do suffer major consequences…"

"So, we have to play, no matter what?" the girl asks. "There's nothing we can do?"

Tails swallows.

"N-No…"

Sonic wasn't getting any better. He had a feeling this wasn't going to stop unless he played the damn game. With a growl in between coughs, he shakes his head.

_Fine, I'll play your stupid game!_

He stopped coughing.

He inhaled sharply, his throat burning. He gasps for air, reeling over, panting heavily.

"Sonic?" Sonia questions, confused and worried.

They all watched him, Tails and Sally turning around as well, as he took his time to recover.

After a moment of no sound but his harsh breathing, Sonic groaned and sat up, wiping his eyes. He ignores everyone around him, glaring at the board on the wooden table. It wanted to play? Fine. He'll play. Then when this was over, he was blowing it up. Maybe nuke it in Eggman's own base…

Pushing himself to his feet, then pushing everyone out of his way, he stomps over to the table and snatches one of the DARE cards he left behind. He didn't need to read it to know what it was, he just turned and stomped out of the office, leaving everyone in shock. Only two seconds later everyone was chasing him down the hallway.

* * *

The pool room.

Sonic was actually going to challenge his Dare Card.

The group stood worriedly as he handed the card to Tails. "Start counting," he grumbled.

They watch with wide eyes as he steps over to the edge of the pool. Was he really going to…?

His heart was pounding, but he was too angry to care. No board game was going to challenge him. He absolutely refused to back down from a challenge, even if it meant facing one of his worst fears.

He takes in a deep breath, pinches his nose, and stepped right off the edge and straight into the water.

"Oh my gosh!" Sonia cried out.

Tails had quickly started counting, fearing that if he messed up Sonic would have to do this again.

"He just…" Knuckles forces out.

They were all shocked.

Rouge crosses her arms. "If there's one thing I've always admired about blue, is that he may have his fears, he may not want to admit to them, but he's sure damn good at facing them."

"I didn't think he would do it," Mighty says, looing over at Tails, who was mouthing the numbers as he counted them off.

Sonic in the meantime was losing his mind.

Why did he think this was a good idea?

Then again, he had been more than pissed, and as he sat at the bottom of the pool with his arms crossed over his chest, his legs folded like a pretzel, he started to feel the fear break through his anger and the realization of the situation suddenly hit him.

How would they know to get him out?

His heart jumped, and he put a hand over his mouth. He could not lose this dare, because if he did, he would have to do another one, and he absolutely refused to…

…but what if he lost his breath before his friends came down for him? He didn't have his communicator on, and he had no way to get up to the surface on his own. He was at least five feet under, and the more he thought about it, the more terrified he became.

As he was thinking this, Sally looked over at Sonia with suddenly wide eyes. "How will we know when he needs to come for air?"

Knuckles holds up a hand. "I've seen Sonic hold his breath for at least four minutes at a time. I'll dive down in a little bit and see how he's doing."

Tails nods in agreement, but continues to focus on his counting.

Sonic knew if he got anxious it would only shorten how long he could hold his breath. How long has it been? At least two minutes now, right? His chest was already hurting, although that could be from his coughing fit still. He tried to ignore the fact that he was freezing, or that it was dark down here, or that there was five feet of water all around and above him, or his friends may not get to him in time…

Another minute passed, and the group was starting to get jittery. Shadow actually was the first to speak up. "Don't you think you should go down there now?" Even he sounded concerned.

Knuckles had been thinking the same thing. "I will now. Keep counting until I bring him up, Tails."

The fox nods as the echidna walks over and dives in.

Sonic didn't even notice that Knuckles had dived in until he landed in front of him. He couldn't help the relief that flooded him as he saw his red friend, but instead of showing it, he raised an eyebrow at him. Knuckles returned the look and sat himself down next to the hedgehog, their backs against the edge of the pool wall.

At least two more minutes had to have passed before Sonic reached over and tugged on the echidna's arm, looking as if he were on the verge of having a panic attack. Knuckles nods and floats up a bit, reaching down to grab his friend under his arms and swim them up.

Sonic couldn't hold it before they broke the surface, and as their heads shot out of the water, he coughed up and choked on quite a bit of water.

Knuckles gives his friend a worried look. "You okay?"

A shaky nod was his only answer, and the ruby guardian had a feeling Sonic just wanted out of the water already.

Tails and Manic run over, grabbing Sonic's hands and pulling him out of the water. "Bro, that was insane!" Manic exclaims, as Tails turns to Knuckles who climbed out of the water.

"He held his breath for six minutes and thirty-two seconds!"

Knuckles wrings some of the water out of his dreadlocks, his eyes widening in surprise. "Really?"

Sonic was visibly shaking where he stood, as Sonia handed him a towel from one of the nearby shelves. "You alright?" she asks in a soft, soothing voice. He just nods as he did with Knuckles, and wipes his face off.

Espio walks over to Tails and motions towards the card. "Is the card blank now?"

The golden fox looks down at the card, his ears flying forward. "Y-Yeah! It's blank now!"

"Good…" Sonic grumbles hoarsely, and they watch him slump out of the giant pool room, not saying another word.

"At…least that's over with," Sonia says quietly, worried for her brother. The others in the group nod, but they all had the ominous feeling it was only going to get worse.

* * *

After everyone returned to their seats, they all gave Sonic concerned looks. He was quiet and looked grouchy, but he had a liable reason to be.

Tails was next, but since he answered his Truth the first round, he, like Knuckles, landed on a free space.

Manic gave a roll and landed on a free space as well, before passing the die to Rouge. They were all quiet, the only sound being that of the die rolling across the table. The bat sighs and moves her player piece, before freezing.

"Why…why am I landing on a Dare?"

Shadow sits up. "Did you count it right?"

Everyone looked at the die, then the board. "I…yes I did…" Rouge answers, sitting back in slight shock. "I don't understand. I answered my question…"

"Did…" Sonia starts worriedly, "did you answer it truthfully?"

"I…" Rouge stops. "I said it would really depend on what we were fighting over. Did that not count as an answer?"

"It doesn't seem like it," Mighty answered, sitting up in his seat.

"You had between two choices, and you didn't pick either," Tails says slowly. "That isn't fair…especially if you were honest."

Rouge shakes her head. "Is there any rule that says I can't re-roll the die?"

Sonia nods sadly. "Unfortunately, you can't even pick up the die…"

The bat blinks, before reaching over and grabbing the die. Well, she tried to grab the die, but like Sonic's player piece had been, it was glued to the table like it was a part of it.

"This is ridiculous," she huffs irritably. Realizing that nothing she did was going to work, she reaches over and snatches a Dare Card with a scowl. Her eyes skim over it quickly, and she raises a brow. "Give up my most prized possession?"

"What would that be?" Manic asks, and she frowns.

"The only thing I really have on me of any importance to me is…" she trails off, her eyes narrowing.

"What?" Knuckles asks, and Rouge looks suddenly worried. She holds up her left arm and pushes her white glove up some. A silver bracelet hung from her wrist.

"My mother's bracelet. It's the only thing I have left of her."

Everyone went quiet. They couldn't imagine that kind of pressure of having to give up something that didn't just mean something to them, but belonged to a person that meant even more.

"Here," Sonic spoke up, startling them all. They were surprised to hear him talk, especially after what he just had to go through. "Let me see it. The card says you have to get rid of it, it doesn't say how you have to do it."

Rouge looks at him in surprise. He was right. It didn't say  _how_ she had to get rid of it, as long as she 'got rid of it.'

"That's a good idea," Tails says. "Usually when you give someone something, you're technically 'getting rid of it.'"

Rouge let out a relieved sigh, before unclipping the delicate bracelet. She hands it over to Sonic, knowing that if she could trust anybody with it, it was him.

"Don't lose it now," she teases, knowing he wouldn't.

He gives her a small smile. "It's fine."

"The card is blank," Manic mentions, "so I guess it counts."

_Thank the gods…_

The die was able to be picked up, and just as Rouge realized who was next, her heart suddenly jumped.

Shadow scowled as he took the die.

No one wanted to know what his dare was going to be.

Sure enough, he landed on the orange spot, and thinking back to his Truth Card he had passed on, he was honestly a bit worried about what his Dare Card would be. He didn't let his worry show, however, as he reached and grabbed for the orange stack of cards, grabbing the one on top. Everyone watched him with curious, alert eyes, waiting for his reaction.

He read it, once, twice, before he handed it over to Rouge, who was trying to peer over his shoulder. She takes it, reading it quickly, her brows furrowing. "'The person you hold most dear here right now, is going to go missing sometime throughout the game.'" Eyes widen all around as she continues. "'You have only an hour to find them.'"

"Or what?" Knuckles questions, glancing over to Shadow, who seemed pissed beyond belief. Rouge takes a deep breath, finishing the card.

"'Or something bad will happen to them.'"

Shadow would have passed if he could. This wasn't a game they were playing. They weren't even the ones playing it. The game was playing them, forcing them to do whatever it wished.

"Fine then," he growls. "We'll just have to see what happens."

His response was somewhat unexpected. Then again, he wouldn't let his ego be crushed by a little orange card, and for a moment he sounded just like Sonic had with his own Dare.

"I'm guessing it's gonna happen whenever the game feels like dropping it," Sonia says. "So that gives us another reason to stick together as much as possible."

Nods followed all around, before Espio rolled the die. A free space later, and Mighty swallowed.

He, like Sonic, Shadow, and Rouge, had passed on his Truth. He knew he was going to land on an orange spot, but he was still nervous. He moves his piece, grabs the card, and reads it to himself.

After a moment of rereading it over and over, he frowns. "It says, 'During this game you and one of your friends are going to get into a fight. You have to win.'"

"It's almost like Shadow's Dare," Manic says with a frown. "We don't know when it's gonna happen…"

"It doesn't say what will happen if I lose," Mighty frowns, putting the card down. "For some reason, I don't wanna know."

He hands the die to Sonia, who freezes up inside. Considering her friends' dares, and the fact that this was an evil board game, she was more than nervous to pull her Dare Card. She rolls the die (who would have guessed), and lands on the sixth spot up, which, much to no one's surprise, was orange.

She takes in a shaky breath, then picks up her card delicately. She holds it up, reading it over, her eyes widening slightly.

"What's up, sis?" Manic asks, both he and his brother tense. With what her Truth Card had been, they were both ready for anything.

She shakes her head. "It…it says, 'Of the two most precious people to you, you have to find each of their most precious belongings. You have to destroy one of them.'"

Sonic and Manic both look at each other a bit frantically. Sonia looks up at both of her brothers, wondering how she was supposed to be able to do such a thing.

"What…" Sally asks quietly, "are your guys' most precious possessions?"

Instinctively, both hedgehogs reached up to grab the silver medallions hanging around their neck. They both look at their sister with wide eyes. There was no way, whatsoever, that they could give up their medallions. Those were far too precious, given to them by their mother at birth, and used to help them grow up together as siblings, and as a team. There were too many memories and songs in those silver pendants, and giving those up would be like giving up a part of their life.

Sonia shakes her head. "I couldn't…that isn't right…"

…but if she didn't finish her dare, the game would freeze, and they would all be cursed.

Silence blanketed the group heavily, settling down with an eeriness that made them all tense.

"Is there anything else…?" Tails asks hesitantly. "Does it have to be those?"

"The game said their most precious possessions," Knuckles stated. "What else would be more important than those?"

"Unfortunately," Sonic muttered, "he's right. I can't lie and say this isn't the most meaningful thing I own. Plus, I don't think we could lie to the board."

"Especially since it seems to know us better than we know ourselves," Mighty muttered.

More silence. Sonia leans back in her chair. "I can't do it, though. These medallions are a part of us. I could never even dream of giving my own up, let alone one of yours."

"I can't either," Manic says, his green ears flattening at their sides slightly. "But I don't think it's right for one of us to give them up…"

Everyone was at a loss. Sonic curses under his breath, standing up. They all look at him with wide eyes…and was that Chaos Energy swirling around him? He lets the energy swirl down to his hand, before his eyes narrow.

"Everyone move."

The entire group bolted up to their feet, jumping back, just as he lets out a large Chaos Spear that strikes the board and bursts.

Once the smoke cloud cleared, they all gaped in shock.

The table had scorch marks spread out all over it, but the board…

"…how the actual fuck…?" Knuckles breathes.

The board was still as good as new.

Sonic let out a string of curses in a language not even Shadow understood, turning around and grabbing his head in obvious frustration. The group was at a loss of what to do, and everyone seemed a bit frantic at this. As Sonic continued his multilingual banter, Sonia shook her head. "So it really can't be destroyed…"

If Sonic's Chaos Spear, which was argued to be far stronger than Shadow's (which is why he never used it), couldn't even scratch the board, then…

"What the hell are we gonna do?" Knuckles questions, his eyes narrowing. "We really have no choice but to play?"

...and then the lights went out.

The group froze, everyone going silent. Thunder and lightning cracked and boomed loudly outside, and immediately Sonic and Shadow lit up their hands with Chaos Energy. Tails turned on his communicator, as did everyone else.

In the dim light, they all took a look at the board.

Their breath caught in their throats.

Every. Single. Card had was spread out over the table, from corner to corner, and written on every single one of those cards…

Sonia could feel herself whimper.

" _You shouldn't have done that."_


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Two – You Shouldn't Have Done That**

They all stare at the table with horror-struck faces, no one daring to move or make even the slightest of sounds. The room was still, terribly so, the group frozen to their cores as they re-read what all the cards on the table were saying.

" _You shouldn't have done that."_

Sonic is the first to move, to do anything at all, his hand, that was hovering in mid-air from releasing the Chaos Spear, falling down to his side in a tightly clenched fist. His eyes are narrowed and he runs his other hand over his head, through the quills on the back of it that were starting to stand up in irritation.

"I hate my life."

The way he says it catches everyone off guard, as if he really, truly hated his life and wanted nothing to do with it anymore. It was the worst thing anyone had ever heard him say, ever, so dark and pessimistic they wondered if that was still Sonic standing there, or something in the board was possessing him.

"What the hell's wrong with you?" Knuckles chokes out, giving his friend a warning glare. Sonic doesn't say a word, just continues to scowl at the board, laying innocently on the table.

With his silence came an uneasy feeling throughout the group of friends. Shadow is the next to move, turning to look around at the lights that were still down.

"I thought this place was powered by a Chaos Emerald," he starts, looking over at Sonia. She frowns, passing the look to her older brother.

"It is," she answers quietly.

Sonic slowly brings his emerald eyes from the board to her, his face unreadable. "I can still feel it," he answers. "The emerald is still down there."

"Then how is the power down?" Rouge speaks up, a bit more hurriedly than she liked to sound. "Chaos Emeralds don't just run out of power."

"It could be the magic of the board," Tails says quietly, unable to pull his stare from Sonic, who's sudden change of mood worried him greatly. Sonic was never like…like  _this…_ unless he was dangerously close to transforming into his dark from. Was the board's power  _that_ strong on the hero? If that was the case, then how would any of them last through the night?

…but maybe that's what the game's goal was, he realized slowly. Of course it would target Sonic first. He was their leader and the most optimistic, full-hearted hero known to the planet, yet had the darkest side that would put those like Mephiles and the Metarex to shame. The board thrived on dark energy, and Sonic was the picture perfect model of darkness when he transformed.

This…was bad.

If the game was trying to get Sonic to go dark, then they had bigger problems on their hands.

Manic, next to him, seemingly looked as if he was thinking the same thing. "I'm more concerned about you than anything, Sonic. You're practically glowing, now."

Sonic's frown deepens and he gives his brother a questioning look. Knuckles has to agree.

"He's right, Sonic. I think the board is trying to get at you. You said it yourself that anything the Majics have made can bring the darkness out of people." Sonic's ears fold back as he continues: "I think it's going after you, first. Your Chaos Energy is really, really tense right now. If you don't calm down, you're going to snap."

The reality of the situation seemed to dawn on everyone then. If Sonic went dark while they were stuck here, there was no surviving the night. Sonic hardly had enough control over himself in his dark form to be comfortable with. One thing could send him into hysteria and they could all end up dead.

They watch him look down, before nodding and taking in a shaky breath of air. He turns around and rubs his face with his hands, doing his best to settle his nerves.

"The Chaos Emerald," Sally urges them to focus back on the other matter of importance. "Where is it?"

"Downstairs, basement," Sonia says with a frown. "If the emerald is still there, then it must have been removed from the generator."

"No one would just take it out," Mighty says, matter-of-factly.

"Should we go down there, or…?" Tails begins hesitantly, and the group goes silent once more. Sonic turns back around, taking in another deep breath.

"If we do go down there," he says, and he sounds a bit better, "it can't just be one of us. We have to stay as a group."

"What about everyone else in the castle?" Sonia glances worriedly at the door. "Shouldn't we make sure everyone is alright?"

"And Blaze," Tails adds.

Sonic frowns, looking at the board again. They could tell he was thinking, and fast, because in just another minute he looks at Sonia. "Two teams. We split up under a timer. I'll take mine to see what's wrong with the Chaos Emerald. You take yours to check with the rest of the castle."

"How long?" Manic asks. Sonic looks down at his communicator, at the time.

"We give it thirty minutes, tops. Any longer and one of our teams isn't back in this room by then, then we try to find each other. Stick to the main halls, and don't separate."

They all nod. It was the best plan they had, and the only one that seemed safe enough.

"Who's with who?" Knuckles asks.

Sonic and Sonia share the same thoughtful looks, before Sonic answers, his tone sharp, with that leadership they all followed easily.

"Knuckles, Tails, Manic, Shadow and I will go to the generator. Sonia will take Rouge, Sally, Mighty, Espio, and Amy. We move quickly and meet back here in thirty."

Everyone nods.

* * *

He wasn't particularly excited about going to the castle's basement, with no power, no sign of anybody, to a room where the Chaos Emerald can't just move by itself. Either someone took it out of the generator, or the game did. He seriously betted the latter. If it  _was_ the former, they were in for one hell of a time.

Tails is right behind him, sandwiched in between himself and Knuckles. The kit was always terrified of storms, and with the power mysteriously out he was more than shaken. Manic is next to Knuckles, and Shadow is right next to the blue prince, helping him light the way with the golden glow of Chaos Energy. It was interesting enough; Sonic's energy was a bright blue, Shadow's gold. When they got too close to one another, it formed a green that would put the Master Emerald to shame. It was this he focused on instead of the growing dread in the pit of his stomach. Whatever was lying in wait for them in the basement wouldn't be good, he knew.

Shadow passes the hero beside him a somewhat worried glance. Knuckles hadn't been kidding when he said Sonic's energy was tense enough to snap. He could feel it himself, and the closer he stood next to him the stronger it felt. The last thing he wanted to do was fight Dark Sonic, especially in closed quarters and no Chaos Emerald to support him.

" _I'm fine,"_ he hears in his head, and it takes him a moment to realize Sonic had sent the thought to him. Not exactly telepathy, but they discovered not too long ago that they can send messages to each other through their thoughts when their energy was connected enough. The hero now gives him a frown, glancing at him without turning his head. Shadow's mouth pulls into a thin line but he looks forward.

" _Whatever you say."_

He was doubtful Sonic was 'fine.'

They made it to the stairs that led to the main hall, quickly trotting down them and towards the stairs next to an elevator that would lead down to the basement. Sonic grabs the handle and opens it up, the group following him as he began the descent down.

The closer he got to the next floor down, he felt the air get heavier and heavier.

The generator  _had_ to be down here, he thought glumly. Unfortunately, they had no other choice. Last time they had it above ground, someone stole the Chaos Emeralds powering it, and the next time Eggman targeted it during one of his attacks. At least down here it was safe.

Well, besides now.

They make it to the basement door, and the air is even heavier than it was before. What was his deal? he thinks to himself. He felt a nagging sense of fear in the back of his head, driving his heart a leap or two faster as he pulled the door open and led them down the hallway. Tails reaches forward to grab his right hand, and he squeezes the kid's fingers reassuringly. He probably shouldn't have brought the kid down here, but if there was something wrong with the generator, Tails was the one to fix it. They continue down until they get to the generator room, Sonic gritting his teeth as he slowly turns the handle and creaks the door open.

The room was filled with wires in rubber tubing that went along the walls in a certain order. They all connected back to the generator itself, sitting against the back right corner.

The Chaos Emerald was laying in the far left.

The group stands there, their eyes darting from the generator to the emerald, the hedgehogs' quills rising and Knuckles tensing, Tails taking a closer step towards his brother.

The emerald had a soft, light blue glow pulsating off of it, just enough to see it reflected on the floor below it. It wasn't enough to see into the dark corner of the room.

Sonic has seen enough traps in his life to know that this was definitely one, but for what? He exchanges a similar look with Shadow beside him, who seemed to be thinking the same thing.

"Well," Manic mutters. " _That_ isn't creepy at all."

Sonic takes in a breath, pulling his wits together. He takes a few cautious steps forward, Knuckles following closely behind in case this went south, Tails, Manic, and Shadow watching behind, ready to move at the first sign of trouble.

He hesitates as he approaches the emerald, the heaviness now the strongest on him, and he feels sick. Really sick. That sick feeling he got right before his energy caved in like a black hole, transforming him into his dark form.

"Something's wrong," he whispers, and Knuckles could hear the strain in his friend's voice. Sonic sounded as if he were struggling, and he could feel his energy do a million flips on itself.

"I'll grab it," he offers, and Sonic gives him a worried look. Now Shadow was taking another step forward, sensing something about to go wrong.

Knuckles gives the emerald an almost angry look, before closing the distance. He leans down to pick it up, telling himself that he isn't shaky, he's not creeped out or anything, he's faced ghosts before and came out fine, and carefully picks up the emerald. He gives it a curious frown, looking it over. Nothing seemed to be wrong with it…

His eyes catch something in front of him, and when the glow of the emerald shines forward, he lets out a surprised yell and jumps backwards.

"Knuckles?!" Sonic exclaims, pulling his friend back, who looked beyond startled. Shadow and Manic run forward, grabbing both of the heroes and pulling them back.

Slowly, in front of them, the sound of creaking and twitching, shuffling and tapping, crawled out a dirty, bleeding mobian, parts of its bones showing through the gashes in its skin, its head bent at a disturbing angle, its voice rising in an angry shriek.

…and it looked exactly like Queen Aleena.

* * *

Sonia ushers the few maids into the room with some other guards, ordering them to stay put until the power is back on. She has most of their patrol upstairs, along with the servants and people who worked in the castle. She was glad Sonic had that dining and resting hall put in up here. It gave everyone room and kept them close to the prince's office. She stops and looks down at her communicator, seeing that already sixteen minutes have passed. She knows Sonic said thirty, but she can't help but worry.

"Is that everyone?" Sally asks, stepping out of the dining hall. The rest of their group was inside, besides Espio, who stood a little ways down the hall beside two soldiers.

"I believe so," Sonia sighs. "Well, besides Blaze. We need to go wake her up and tell her what's going on."

Sally nods, turning to look inside the dining hall. "I'll gather everyone up."

Sonia watches her go back in to get their group, turning back to Espio who walked up to join her.

"Are we going for Blaze?" he asks. The magenta hedgehog nods.

"Yes. We're all going up together."

He frowns, looking inside the hall, watching the decent amount of people chatter anxiously between candle and flashlight. "We're running short on time."

The princess bites the inside of her cheek, anxiously thinking the same thing. "I hope they haven't run into trouble."

Espio can only hum in agreement.

Once Sally, Amy, Mighty, and Rouge have joined them, they make their way to the other end of the hall, towards the guest bedrooms. Soldiers gave them weary glances, double checking the rooms for anyone left behind as they walked passed them. Once they reached Blaze's room, they walk in to find her safely sound asleep, laying on her side on the large bed beside the door.

"Blaze," Amy calls softly as she leans on the side of the bed. "Blaze, wake up."

It takes a moment or two to wake her up, and when they do, the groggy princess is glaring at them for ruining her rest. After sitting up and rubbing her eyes, she seems to realize her surroundings and gives them all confused looks.

"What's…going on?" she mumbles, and Sonia stands beside Amy, giving her friend an anxious look.

"There's, quite a bit to explain. Come with us to the dining hall. We only have ten minutes to talk."

* * *

Sonic and Manic looked the most petrified out of all of them, stumbling backwards at the zombie-like form of their mother. Shadow snatches the Chaos Emerald out of Knuckles's hand and shoves it into the generator, the power flaring back on immediantly. The thing, whatever it was, shrieked and lunged at him, only to meet Knuckles's fist as he takes a swing at it.

"Sonic!" Tails calls, and the blue hero turns and pushes the fox out of the room, grabbing Manic's arm and dragging him, too. Shadow and Knuckles follow, out into the wide hallway, their fists raised, ready to fight…whatever that thing was.

Its screams were horrendous on the ears, making all of the mobians flatten them against their heads. It stumbles out of the room like a drunk, leaving a trail of blood and brown ooze leaking from it's wounds. Its claws latched on to the door frame as it pauses to take a good look at its prey, before running forward, towards Knuckles, who stood the closest to it.

"Get back!" the echidna exclaims, disgusted by the thing's appearance. He jumps back to dodge the swing of its claws, countering with a slash of his fist into the side of its crooked head. It stumbles over and decides it wants to attack Shadow instead, and he shoots it with a Chaos Spear.

Half of its head explodes into a bloody, gooey mess across the wall behind it, screaming as it rears back, its arms flailing in the air. Shadow doesn't hesitate to shoot it again, this time blowing the rest of its head off, causing it to stumble backwards, collapsing against the wall, sliding down to the floor. It disintegrates, bubbling and dripping into a puddle, a terrible smell rising into the air as it steams.

The group is panting, their eyes wide, frozen to the bone, watching the puddle spread out across the grey, marble floor.

"Upstairs."

Sonic's voice was a strained whisper, and the group immediantly follows the order, all of them turning and running up the stairs as quickly as they can.

* * *

Sonia turns just as Manic collides against her, clinging on to her in a tight hug.

"Manic?" she calls out, confused, watching Sonic usher the rest of their group into the office. They all looked pale and sick, as if they had seen something more than disturbing. "What happened?"

Sonic mutters something under his breath, as Knuckles answers.

"There was something down there," he glares at the table. "Some kind of deformed, zombie, monster-thing that attacked us when we found the emerald."

Manic pulls away, taking in a deep, shaky breath. "It looked like mom."

The room is so quiet its almost unbearable. Sonia takes in what she was told and attempts to put it together in her head.

"What…happened to it?" Rouge asks, giving the disgruntled boys concerned looks. Tails was still clinging to Sonic's hand, and Shadow had a scowl over his face, his quills raised dangerously so.

"Shadow blew it up," Knuckles pulls out his chair back at the front of the table, plopping down on it to glare at the board, before blinking in surprise. "Wait…did you guys put the cards back?"

Everyone turns to look at the table, and sure enough, the cards were back in their original places, upside down and seemingly back to normal.

"N…No…" Sonia murmurs. "We just got back in here."

"How was everyone?" Sonic asks, and he surprisingly sounds more stable than he has for the past hour. Or was it two? No one was really keeping track of time.

Knowing Sonic, he being 'stable' now was just a mask. Usually when he got stressed out enough, he became super calm and content. It was a good, or bad, sign that he was close to the end of his fuse.

"They're all a little finicky," Sally answers, "but they're okay."

"What about Blaze? Did you guys tell her what's going on?" he asks, his brows furrowing. Sonia nods.

"We did, and told her to stay with everyone else. We don't want to bring her into the game."

The prince nods, quietly urging Tails to sit as he himself does. The fox scoots his chair closer to his brother's as he sits, wrapping his namesakes around himself.

"So…what do we do now?" Mighty asks, glancing at the board again.

No one was quite sure.

"At least we have power…" Rouge tries, sitting in her own chair, crossing her legs over one another and folding her arms over her chest.

"Hopefully it stays that way," Knuckles nearly growls. "I'm not going back down there like that, again."

Shadow grunts in agreement. Sonic lets out an aggravated sigh.

Thunder boomed outside and they all flinched. Muttered curses spread around the table before Sonia sits down in her chair and stares at the board. Her player piece was still in its spot, unmoved, her DARE card left in front of her, as if teasing her.

"I still have to complete my dare…" she mumbles.

Sonic lets out a sigh and reaches for the pendent around his neck. Manic's eyes widen and he stands up quickly, taking his off, first. "No, I'll do it."

Sonic looks up, raising a brow. "Why?"

Manic shakes his head, looking down at the pendent in his hand. "I… You've already had enough to deal with as it is, and…mother gave us these pendants. You were the closest to her. It isn't fair for you to give yours up."

Sonic's eyes narrow slightly. "It isn't fair to any of us, but-"

"Wait!" Rouge suddenly calls out. "Can't we find a way around this?" she offers, sounding almost hesitant. "Just like with my bracelet… It says she has to destroy them, but it doesn't say 'completely' or how to destroy them. 'Destroy' can mean anything that damages the pendants, right?"

Everyone went still, the three siblings exchanging the same, almost awe-struck looks.

"She's right…" Tails speaks up quietly. "When I get a bad scratch on the Tornado or any invention of mine, it always feels like it's destroyed."

"Or any part of the pendant, maybe," Amy thinks aloud, "Like the chain the pendant is on!"

"Would that work, though?" Manic looks over to Sonic, who seems to be thinking hard on it.

"They…have a point," the prince realizes, the more and more he thought about it. "It's not like you can wear it if the chain is broke, so…yeah it's kind of damaged, or 'destroyed.'"

Manic's blue eyes light up, and he then throws the pendent towards his sister. "Then break the chain. That should be enough to satisfy the Dare."

She catches the charm and stares at it for a moment, before nodding firmly and snapping the chain apart with her hands. The pendant fell on the table with a small cling.

They all waited, watching her DARE card, their hearts pounding.

The words on the card faded.

"It worked!" the girl practically squeals, throwing her hands up in excitement.

Manic collapses in his seat, exhausted with relief, and Sonic rubs his hands through his quills with a weak smile on his face.

It was the first time that night they felt some kind of relaxation, especially since starting the game.

"If we can keep finding ways around the Dares," Knuckles starts, "then maybe this won't be so bad."

"That's if it's that easy," Mighty grimly adds. "Remember, Shadow and I still have our Dares to look out for."

The black and red hedgehog huffs, almost forgetting about his own future problem.

"We'll just have to see," Sonia says, feeling more confident than she has so far. "I think we can do this."

"Not like we have much of a choice," Sally mutters, and they can't help but agree.

"Okay, so, Amy's next," Rouge says, nodding towards the pink hedgehog who suddenly looked pale.

The girl picks up the die and rolls it, and to her relief, lands on a free space. Sally rolls and lands on one as well.

"That's…the end of round two?" Knuckles takes the die, flipping it around in his hands. Their pieces on the board were unique. Sonia and Rouge were in the lead, while Amy, Sally, and Espio were right behind them. The spot behind them was Sonic, and the spot behind them held Tails, Knuckles, Manic, and Sally. Shadow and Mighty were in the spot behind them. "Does…it really matter who wins? Do we have to find a winner, or is it over when we all get to the center of the board?"

Sonia frowns and shakes her head. "It didn't say. I just assumed that whoever got the to center of the board was the winner, and that's the end of the game."

"I bet you seven Chaos Emeralds we all have to get to the center for the game to finish," Sonic grumbles, and Knuckles glares at the board.

"Then let's hope we all aren't dead before then," Rouge mutters.

Knuckles waits a second to gather his mental strength, before he takes in a deep breath and rolls the die. He moves his piece five spots and lands on a green space.

"So this is how it's gonna be the whole game?" he frowns. "We start with a Truth, then if we answer it we're safe, if we don't we have to do a Dare on the Truth?"

"You don't have a choice between Truth or Dare at all," Sonia frowns. "It's just Dare the Truth."

"…unless your lucky enough to land on a white spot," Mighty grins sarcastically.

Knuckles picks up a green card, uneasy about reading it.

"'What is the guiltiest thing you have ever done?'" he reads bitterly.

"I'd make a joke, but there's a killer board game and kids in the room," Rouge can't stop the smirk from curving her lips. Both Knuckles and Sonic give the bat warning looks.

"I think everyone has done something that's made them feel extremely guilty," Espio, who had been mostly quiet, answers. "At least, once in their life."

"Yeah, but the guiltiest?" Sonia questions. "Everything I've done that's made me feel guilty is mostly equal."

"I feel guilty allowing us to play this board game," Sonic mutters.

"I feel guilty to be the one who found it," his sister responds.

Manic gives out a weak chuckle. "The angst is strong with these two."

While the green hog deals with his siblings' glares, Knuckles leans back in his chair and thinks about what could be the guiltiest thing  _he's_ ever done. There was a lot of things he felt guilty about, including the many times he fell for Eggman's schemes and attacked Sonic and Tails because of it. The guiltiest? Sonia was right, he couldn't think of anything in particular…but the question obviously pertained to himself somehow.

…unless it was talking about…

Inwardly suppressing the terrible memory, the echidna throws his TRUTH card down. "I…really don't know. I know that's not a good answer for the board, but I honestly can't think of anything. Like Sonia said, I'm all equal with my guilt."

"You know the board is gonna make you pull a Dare, next, right?" Sonic asks his friend, and the guardian shrugs.

"Guess I'll die."

Rouge rolls her eyes, but they all felt nervous already about it.

Sonic rolls the die next, knowing the game had a personal love of hating on him, and grabs the TRUTH card with a blank face. He reads it aloud with a low tone.

"'Only one can live: the world, or your friends.'"

"That's a  _really_  bad one," Manic blurts out, his eyes widening in shock. Sonic looks as if he's eaten something sour, the scowl on his face the first sign of murder.

"You'd have to choose the world over us," Sonia glares at her older brother. "We've worked  _way_  too hard to keep this planet free."

"Plus, if you let the world die over us, then everything we've put our lives to would be for nothing," Knuckles adds.

Sonic doesn't look like he wants to answer. He looks more pissed than anything.

"I…agree with them," Tails speaks up quietly. "It wouldn't be right to give up millions of people for only a small group."

The moment he said those words, Sonic's ears fell back. To hear it from others was hard enough, but to hear  _Tails_ say it?

' _Fuck,'_ is all he can think.

They all watch him glare at the card, his emerald eyes dark with a deadly gleam in them.

"Sonic?" Manic asks quietly, concern heavy in his tone. The blue hedgehog closes his eyes, takes in a deep breath through his nose, then throws the card down on the table.

"Sure. Whatever you guys said."

That was a surprising answer.

"You…" Knuckles starts, as Sonic tosses the die to Tails. The blue hero slumps down into his chair, rubbing his temples.

"We're not talking about it," the prince's voice was nearly a growl.

Dammit, the game was going to make him pull another Dare…

"But, Sonic," Sonia starts.

He suddenly scoots his chair back, standing up quickly. A burst of dark Chaos Energy flared around him, and he quickly stomps out of the room, slamming the door shut behind him.

"Shit."

Manic is the one who curses as he and everyone else stands up at once.

"He's going to go dark," Knuckles calls as he walks around the table towards the door. "This is exactly what the game was wanting. I'll go after him."

"Knuckles-!" Sonia turns to follow, and he holds up his hand.

"Shadow, come with me. I'll need you if he turns. You guys," he points to Tails. "Don't stop playing the game. Remember what happened last time we stopped."

Tails gives a shaky nod, his sky blue eyes filled with anxiety. Shadow is already following Knuckles.

Before the two can leave the room, there's a loud crack and boom, and it wasn't thunder. The whole castle shook, rattling the books on the shelves, the glasses on the tables…

"We need to go!" Shadow urges the echidna out of the room, and the two take off.

They all could only pray they weren't too late.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Three- One Bad Idea**

"It…can't…be destroyed…"

Knuckles and Shadow skidded to a halt, their eyes wide at the sight of the Prince of Mobius, clinging to the wall that led outside, his cobalt fur flickering to a dark midnight. He looked almost glitchy, the Chaos Energy rising off of his form twisting and flashing in the air around him. It sizzled like a fuse ready to blow.

"Sonic…" Knuckles starts slowly, carefully, easing up to his friend step after step. "…you need to breathe, buddy."

Sonic lets out a dark laugh, closing his eyes as he leaned his forehead against the wall.

"The walls…" he starts again, his voice now very, very dark. "…can't be destroyed. We can't leave here."

The echidna guardian shares a concerned look with the black and red striped hedgehog next to him, before turning towards the now semi-Dark Sonic in front of him. "It'll be okay, Sonic. We'll figure this out."

"If our Dares are made based on our Truths…" Sonic sinks down to the floor, practically curling up. "What's mine gonna be, then?"

"We'll find a way around it, whatever it is," Shadow tries to assure, hoping he sounded as convinced as he needed to. He sure didn't feel that way, though.

"You can't let the game turn you, Sonic," Knuckles frowns. "It knows you're the easiest and weakest target here, because of your Dark Energy. If you let it bring out your dark form, you're only proving it right."

The hero's body shudders as another wave of energy travels through it. Sonic winces and squeezes his eyes shut tight.

"It…" he sounded strained. "It's…so  _hard._ I've been…so  _long_ now."

Knuckles closes his eyes, taking in a deep breath. They all knew Sonic was barely holding himself together, ever since the death of his mother. After that, more and more things have happened to cause him even more stress, and now the game was aiming to cut the thin as thread strings keeping his sanity together.

' _He's probably been fighting his dark form since she died…and that was four months ago…'_

Four months of inner torture, with no way to properly release it. It figured the blue idiot would keep that 'I'm perfectly fine, nothing bothers me!' mask on throughout it all. One look at him and you could hardly tell anything upset him at all. Now his façade was finally cracking apart.

"I can try to calm him with my energy," Shadow offered quietly, reaching for his inhibitors on his wrists. Knuckles frowns, looking down at the floor.

"That might be our only shot. I doubt it's going to be enough for him, but it'll keep him stabilized enough…at least for now."

"We can try to settle him down before his energy has a chance to lose it again," Shadow suggests, and Knuckles nods.

"Go for it, then."

Shadow removes his inhibitors and hands them to Knuckles, before slowly walking over to the darkened hero and kneeling beside him. He lifts a hand and puts it on the hedgehog's head, letting his bright yellow Chaos Energy flow to the hero's darkened energy.

Sonic lets out a small groan and nearly falls forward, being caught by a surprised Shadow, who stared with wide eyes as Sonic buried his face into his white chest. His felt his heart jump immediantly, a strange heat rising to his cheeks turning his muzzle pink. Sonic's dark energy was slowly drifting away, but he didn't move from his position in the slightest. Shadow's breath was caught in his throat, not sure of what to do. Sonic was clinging on to him almost desperately, as if he would drown if the striped hog let go.

' _Stop being stupid, he doesn't know what he's doing…'_ The Ultimate Lifeform argued with himself. Why did this have to mess with his head so much…

…all because of a stupid crush…

He takes in a deep breath and tries to calm himself down, trying to ease Sonic up and away from him with his face still hot as ever. He just hoped that echidna didn't notice him blushing, or he would have to kill him as a witness.

"Faker," he tries, watching Sonic's fur turn back to it's original cobalt color and his quills fall. "Faker, snap out of it."

Knuckles walks over, frowning at the blue hedgehog who seemed completely dazed. "He's not handling the sudden burst of energy and then the sudden loss of it. He's going to need a little while to rest."

Shadow frowns, watching as Sonic scoots closer to him, as if he were trying to cuddle with him. He couldn't control the pounding of his heart as he felt the prince's warmth against him, feeling his soft breaths against his chest as the hedgehog seemingly fell asleep.

Oh, he was going to kill him. Why did this have to happen to him?

"Hey, you okay?" Knuckles asks with slightly widened eyes. "You don't look too good, you should probably put your rings back on."

Shadow scowls and looks down at Sonic in his arms, feeling his face redden even more.

"I can take him, if you want," the echidna continues, handing Shadow his inhibitors.

The black and red hedgehog watches as the guardian pulls Sonic away from him, lifting him up in his arms bridal style. He grits his teeth as he puts his rings back on, feeling some form of regret as he watched Knuckles carry the hero away towards the stairs.

"Let's get him back up to the office," the ruby mobian was saying. "We need to join up with the others, anyway."

Shadow stands up, following him with his arms crossed almost dejectedly.

He could have carried Sonic fine…

* * *

Everyone looks up as they carry Sonic into the room, who was completely out cold.

"Is he okay?" Tails asks, standing up quickly, his namesakes swaying anxiously behind him. Knuckles carries the sleeping hero over to his chair, sitting him down carefully on it. Sonic groaned while his head rolled to the side, resting against the back of the chair. The echidna grimaces and shrugs, not sure.

"I think so," he says, not sounding like he believed himself. "He was nearly in his dark from when we found him. Shadow used his energy to calm him, but right afterwards he blacked out."

Shadow sits down in his own chair, watching Sonic with a frown. The prince's brows were furrowed and he looked as if either in pain or discomfort.

"Where did you find him?" Manic asks, worry written all over his face. Knuckles sits down, watching Sonic closely in case he fell over.

"Downstairs by the entrance. He was trying to break down the doors, but I guess they just can't be opened."

"Wait…what?" Sonia blinks, standing up. "What do you mean they can't be opened?"

"He said we can't leave here," Shadow says with one flattened ear. "He didn't explain any further."

The group passed the same looks around, as Tails asks; "So…like…we can't leave the castle, or go outside? I mean, if he couldn't even break down the door…"

Sonia gets up and runs over to the large window at the back of the room, the one overlooking Mobotropolis. She attempts to open it, double checking to make sure it wasn't locked, but it wouldn't budge even in the slightest. "He's right…it won't open."

"We're stuck here until we finish the game," Mighty says with a frown, leaning back in his seat and crossing his arms. "I mean, we have to finish it anyway, but we can't even leave…"

"It seems like we've been doing this for a while," Amy says quietly, biting her thumb. "Anyone know what time it is?"

Sonia turns around, walking back over slowly as everyone looked at their watches and Tails even checked his computer.

"It's…eight forty-two…" he says shakily, looking up.

"So, time isn't even passing," Shadow says with a scowl.

"How is that even possible?" Espio asks, standing up and putting his hands on the table. "Is the board really that powerful? And what about everywhere else?"

"He has a point," Sally speaks up. "If time is stopped here, does that mean it's stopped everywhere?"

Silence followed almost creepily after that. No one knew what to say, and no one had any answers. They all look at the board lying on the table, feeling an ominous sensation radiating off of it, making them all feel tense.

Sonic groaned again in his sleep, turning his head and nearly falling out of his chair. Knuckles jumps up and catches him before he can fall over, frowning and exchanging looks with Shadow.

"Are you sure he's okay?" Sally asked, watching with a frown. Sonia stands up, walking over to help Knuckles sit her brother down better.

"He's in shock," Knuckles sighs. "He needs a bed to rest."

"I haven't finished my turn yet," Tails said, his nervous blue eyes never leaving his older brother with worry. "If someone goes and watches him, you can take him to bed."

"His bedroom is down at the end of the hall," Manic says. "We can have him sleep until his turn."

"We should have Blaze watch over him," Sonia offers. "She's not in the game, so we wouldn't have to worry about her having a turn. She's also capable of protecting him."

"Is that really a good idea?" Shadow surprises them by asking, his brows furrowed. "Shouldn't we all stay together?"

Rouge passes him a worried look, knowing exactly why he didn't want Sonic to leave their group. Then again, he was right.

They again all share the same skeptical looks.

"He's not going to get any better unless he gets a proper rest," Knuckles says irritably, closing his eyes. "I don't like putting him in another room, but he's only going to get worse if he tries to sit here too long. If the game is targeting him first, then we should make sure he's okay to keep going."

Shadow leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms, a scowl on his face.

"I don't think it's a good idea either," Mighty speaks up, tapping his fingers on the table, "but it's only for a little bit, and the game isn't worried about him right this second. It's going to focus on all of us before it gets back to him."

"Amy," Sonia speaks up. "Come with me to go get Blaze. Knuckles, have Manic and Shadow help you take Sonic to bed and watch him until we get back."

* * *

Shadow leaned against the doorframe into Sonic's bedroom, looking over as Manic and Knuckles helped get the prince comfortable in bed. He didn't like this at all, thinking that leaving Sonic alone, even with someone as capable as Blaze, was a terrible idea. What if something happened and the cat couldn't contact anyone in time? What if Sonic ran off again? What if when he awoke he went right back into his dark form?

"There, hopefully this is enough for him," Knuckles sighs. Sonic was tucked under the blankets, his shoes laying beside the bed. He seemed to be in a deeper sleep, not having made a sound since they left the office. His breathing was deep and quiet, barely audible at all.

"What if it isn't?" Manic asks quietly, his ears folding back. "What if he isn't any better?"

The echidna crosses his arms and watches his sleeping friend with furrowed brows. "I don't know. I can feel his energy trying to stabilize, so that's a good sign, but how long it takes is beyond me. I think he'd at least be somewhat better when he wakes up."

Manic was fidgety, playing with his black cuffs around his wrists. "How far dark was he?"

Knuckles looks down, tapping the carpet with the toe of his shoe. "He was still coherent, and he recognized us, so he wasn't too lost. The thing is, I don't think it was anger that triggered his dark form."

Both Shadow and Manic give the echidna the same, questioning look. "What do you mean? What was it?" the latter of the two ask.

The emerald guardian looks back at the sleeping hero. "Sonic was still in control of himself when we found him, despite how far into the form he was. Usually when his physical appearance starts to change, he's already blacked out and doesn't know where he is or what's going on around him. As I said, when we found him he was still self-conscious."

"And?" Shadow questions with a frown, causing Knuckles to give him a small glare.

"He wasn't angry when we found him, either," he huffs. "His energy also felt different than it usually does when he goes dark. You should know better than me. You can feel how angry and scornful he gets, and it just feels…malevolent. This time, what did it feel like?"

Shadow blinks, thinking back to how the energy had felt. He had been a little distracted with how Sonic had grabbed on to him, so he hadn't really paid too much attention, but now that he thought about it…

"Fear," Shadow stated as it registered to him. "And sadness…caused him to go into his dark form."

The reality of what that meant took a toll on them. Sonic had been so terrified and so upset, that it caused him to go into his dark form.

"He wouldn't be like this if mom was still here," Manic says quietly, looking down. Knuckles gives the green hedgehog an empathetic look as he continues. "I wish I knew why she left this game here."

"She probably never got the chance to tell you guys about it," Knuckles looks towards the window in the far room, watching rain pour down it and lightning flash in the distance. "Sometimes parents forget some of the most important things they should be telling you."

Manic nods, knowing that Knuckles was speaking from experience.

"How is he?"

They turn their attention to Sonia, Amy, and Blaze standing in the doorway. Shadow steps aside as the three girls walk in, Blaze frowning as her eyes fell on Sonic.

"His energy," the girl says, looking up at Knuckles who nodded.

"We know. You're fine with watching him until we come to get him?"

The princess nods and sits in a chair beside the bed. "I'll be fine," she says, crossing her legs. "I'll call immediately should anything happen."

"Thank you, Blaze," Sonia says, smiling almost sadly. "I'll let you know when we're on our way back."

* * *

When the group came back and everyone was seated, nervous glances fell on Sonic's empty chair. No one was comfortable with this, but they all knew Sonic needed rest more than anything right now.

"We have to get back on track," Sonia sighs, putting her chin in her hand.

"You said you haven't finished your turn?" Knuckles asks the golden kit, frowning at Sonic's empty seat as he did.

The fox shakes his head, picking up his green card. "N-No…not yet. I couldn't think of an answer, but I think I have one now."

"What was your question?"

Tails re-reads his card out loud, his voice slightly uneven. "'If you were given the choice, what would you choose: to be healthy and happy but everyone else is miserable, or be miserable and everyone else be happy and healthy?'" At Knuckles's raised brow, the fox sighs, putting his card down. "I would rather everyone else be happy and healthy. I wouldn't be able to choose my happiness if it meant everyone else suffered."

"You've been around Sonic too much," the echidna grunts, leaning back in his seat.

Tails blushes sheepishly, shrugging as he tried to act nonchalant. "I just can't be selfish."

Manic takes the die next and sighs, rolling it. They were slowly but surely making their ways around the board, but they still had a while to go.

Getting a three, the hedgehog isn't surprised when he lands on a green spot. He takes a green card and holds it up, his brows furrowing as he reads it to himself. His face pales and he swallows, causing the group to give him worried looks.

"What does it say?" Sonia asks her brother, not liking the look on his face.

"It…" he starts hesitantly. "It says, 'You are sent back in time to before your mother's death,'" he starts, looking up at his sister.

"That's creepy as hell," Mighty breathes, as Sonia's mouth falls open.

"W-What…what else?" the girl asks, not sure if she wanted to know.

Manic swallows again, continuing to read shakily. "'Your options are: she dies happy but you have to…kill her yourself, or…'" he takes in a deep breath, "'she dies gruesomely on her own.'"

He throws the card down and rubs his hands over his face, visibly trembling.

"That's shitty as hell," Knuckles gruffs, crossing his arms.

"Why does it have to ask me this?" Manic mumbles into his hands. "This game sucks…"

They let him sit and ponder the question for a few minutes, watching as he stares at the board with a scowl. "Manic," Sonia tries, hoping to aid any kind of advice that she could. She wasn't good at comforting anyone…Sonic usually did that for her.

She wished he could give  _her_ advice right now.

"I would rather her die happy," Manic says quietly, closing his eyes. "Even if I have to…do it myself. As long as she's happy and not hurting…I…"

He goes quiet, and no one tries to get him to continue. Rouge takes the die, her heart going out to the hero.

"I'll go next," she says, rolling the die and watching a four roll up. She takes a green card and reads it out loud with a frown.

"'Your worst memory; you have to choose to either live that memory every day until you die, or for your closest friend to live their worst memory every day until they die…'" She shakes her head, putting the card down. "Thanks, evil game board." Before anyone can ask, the bat answers her card. "I'm with Tails on the whole thing. I wouldn't want to do that to someone important to me."

Shadow raises a brow and even Knuckles looks surprised. Rouge hands the die over to Shadow, who scowled immediately.

Rolling it, he of course lands on a green card and picks one up, reading it with a frown.

Then he freezes because it wasn't even a truth card. It was simply telling him something.

"Shadow?" Rouge asks, giving him the same worried look as everyone else. They had never seen him look the way he did, and that, was something of panic.

Suddenly Sonia's communicator goes off, beeping as she received message after message. The girl opens the messages, her eyes widening.

Every single message was from Blaze.

They all said 'HELP.'

"It's Blaze!" Sonia exclaims, and that's when Shadow jumps out of his seat and is running out of the room.

The group runs after him, Rouge stopping to grab the card Shadow had dropped and to see what it said.

'Your DARE starts now.'


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Four – From Bad to Much, Much Worse**

_Two Months Ago..._

_The black and red hedgehog gives the bat beside him a skeptical look. "I hardly believe that."_

_Rouge shrugs, the two turning down a hallway inside G.U.N.'s headquarters. "Believe what you want to, hon; he hasn't told me anything about what this meeting's about."_

_Shadow scoffed and turned away. He had a feeling she knew exactly what the meeting was about, but decided to not tell him for her own amusement. Wouldn't be the first time she's done this._

_He knocks on the door at the end of the hall and gives her a glare. She smirks back and winks, before nodding towards the door as someone on the other end says, 'enter.'_

_Pushing open the door, the two are greeted by both Omega and Commander Towers, the latter of the two looking slightly agitated._

" _Shadow, Rouge," the man greets. "I hate to call you both here so urgently, but we have important matters to discuss."_

_Shadow crosses his arms and raises a brow, while Rouge puts a hand on her hip and smirks._

" _What's the matter?" the girl asks, while Shadow rolls his eyes._

_Towers holds out two different folders, one for Rouge and one for Shadow, to which the pair took with curious frowns._

" _Team Dark is no longer going to be working for G.U.N.." Towers says bitterly. "You're being hired by someone else."_

" _What?" both Rouge and Shadow exclaim at the same time. Turns out Rouge didn't know, the Ultimate lifeform thinks to himself._

_The Commander sighs and leans back in his chair. "You'll still be called in by me for missions and such, but you will be taking orders from your new boss. His orders are top priority over G.U.N.'s."_

" _Who?" Shadow huffs, opening the folder with a scowl. "I'm not going to be-"_

_The door opens behind them and the group turns around. Shadow and Rouge stare in slight surprise as Sonic walks in, frown on his face. He was wearing a crown on his head, the one that spoke of his status within the royal family. Towers stood up, nodding to the hedgehog respectively._

" _Team Dark, you will be working for Prince Sonic from now on," he announces._

_Sonic walks over, right passed Shadow and grabs the folder from Towers, glaring at him. "Don't expect them back for a month," he says, his voice filled with spite. Shadow raises a brow and looks over at Rouge, who seemed just as surprised as he did._

" _Of course, sir," Towers states emotionlessly, the two leaders in power obviously having tension between them._

_Sonic sneers and turns away, motioning for Team Dark to follow him without a word. The three look over to Towers, who nods and sits back down._

_Leaving the room, Rouge is the first to speak up as they follow Sonic down the corridor. "Why hire us, Big Blue? What's going on?"_

" _I need you three to investigate something for me," Sonic says without looking back. "You and Shadow will both receive Chaos Emeralds for compensation; Omega, you already know the deal."_

_Shadow and Rouge again exchange surprised looks. Sonic hiring them personally for an investigation?_

" _So…" the latter of the two ask, "is this hiring temporary or…?"_

" _Permanent," Sonic answers, stopping at the entrance to the headquarters to look back at them. "You'll be under my orders and pay, but when I don't need you you'll continue work for G.U.N. When I call you three I want you there, regardless of what's going on here."_

" _Yes, sir~" Rouge purrs with a smirk, putting a hand over her head like a salute. Sonic's eyelids fall halfway exhaustedly, the blue prince shaking his head with a sigh, looking away._

" _I want you three to go wherever until I call you. I'll let you know where to go to meet me," he says, pulling a Chaos Emerald out of his quills, handing it to Shadow, who looked at him slightly startled. "Stay together and Chaos Control to the coordinates I send you. Shadow, I'll be sending you the message through our Chaos Energy."_

_So Sonic wanted this completely quiet, Shadow thinks with a frown. What could he possibly want from them that he would hire them permanently like this?_

_He was acting oddly serious, he noticed. He had heard from Rouge and Omega that Sonic had a whole different persona when it dealt with his work regarding his royalty, but he never believed them. Sonic in his eyes was a child who had too much power for his own good. Now that he was seeing him like this_ with  _his own eyes, he didn't know what to think. Sonic actually sounded like a prince, like he belonged in power, which was a complete turn around from how he usually was._

_Then again…didn't his mother just die two months ago?_

_He had heard the rumors that Sonic would be forced to take the crown and title of king within six months of her passing, whether or not he wanted to. He was the oldest of her three children, and has been trained his whole life for this. Shadow before couldn't see it happening, but now that he took a good look at the hero…_

_Sonic looked tired and aggravated and bored, but had an aura of responsibility and maturity on him that was strangely…enticing. He wanted to see more of this side of Sonic, just to appease his curiosity, and he had a feeling he was going to very soon._

" _I'll contact you within a few hours, I just have some things to deal with first," Sonic continues._

" _Alright, darling," Rouge smiles. "We'll see you then."_

_Sonic waves them goodbye, before turning and disappearing with the wind as he stepped outside. Team Dark stood there, watching the blue streak disappear._

_Rouge turns to Omega and pats him on the arm. "What's up, big guy? You've been quiet."_

_Omega doesn't look at her when he answers. "I ALREADY KNOW OUR MISSION."_

_Rouge and Shadow raise brows at him, the former frowning. "You do? How?"_

" _HE TOLD ME TWO WEEKS AGO AFTER HE HELPED ME. I HAVE SWORN TO KEEP IT A SECRET UNTIL HE GIVES ME PERMISSION TO TELL YOU."_

_Shadow frowns, wishing he could read the robot's expression. He had heard the story where Sonic had saved Omega from being completely destroyed at Eggman's base. The robot had gotten caught up in an explosion and almost crushed by debris, but Sonic had luckily saw him and got him out of there before too much damage had been done. Sonic also helped in the robot's repairs, not sending Omega back until he was back to one hundred-percent functionality. Omega wasn't willing to do things for people or even put his trust in them, but after that incident he most likely labeled Sonic as trustworthy and a valuable ally._

" _That's no fun," Rouge pouts. "Can't even give us a hint?"_

" _NEGATIVE," the robot answers simply, walking passed her._

_The girl looks over at Shadow, who was staring at the cobalt blue Chaos Emerald with a frown. He seemed lost in thought._

" _Ugh, why do my teammates have to be so boring," she huffs, following Omega out of the building. Shadow watches her walk out, before putting the emerald in his quills._

_Sonic was now his boss._

_He couldn't deny the odd feeling he had in his chest, one that said he looked forward to this._

* * *

Pushing the door to Sonic's room open, he stops and stares in horror.

Sonic's room was gone.

"What-?!" he steps forward, looking around what appeared to be another hallway where Sonic's room should have been. The hallway stretched out, with no windows but many doors on either side of the hall. How was this even possible?!

"Shadow?!" Sonia yells, catching up to him and grabbing his arm. She turns and looks and sees for herself, her mouth falling open. "What is this…?!"

"I have to find him…" Shadow breathes, stepping forward and causing Sonia to let go of his arm. "…before time runs out…"

"Shadow!" Rouge ran in with the two, followed by the rest of their group, who all stared with wide eyes.

"What happened?" Knuckles asks, watching Shadow start heading down the hallway. He looks over at Sonia, who had a hand over her mouth and was shaking where she stood. "Sonia?"

"I don't know…" the girl answers, shaking her head. "We got here and his room…I don't know…  _Sonic_ …"

"Shadow, where are you going?" Rouge calls out, running up to stand in front of him. He glares at her, holding up his fists.

"If I don't find him in an hour something will happen to him."

"An hour, what are you…?"

Rouge stops.

' _The person you hold most dear here right now, is going to go missing sometime throughout the game. You have only an hour to find them.'_

"Sonic is…" Rouge starts quietly to herself, as Shadow pushes passed her.

"Keep playing the game. I will find him."

"Wait, Shadow!" Sonia calls.

He walks off, leaving the group to watch with confusion and worry.

"Let him go," Rouge says, crossing her arms. "He has to do this for the game."

"Why? I don't understand," Sonia asks, giving the bat girl a skeptical look. Rouge turns around, shrugging to herself.

"It's his dare," she sighs, walking passed a group of startled friends. "It's his time to complete it."

"I thought his dare…" Knuckles stops, as realization hit him. It hit all of them then, as they realized what this meant.

Sonic was the person Shadow cared the most dearly about.

...but how  _much_  did he care?

* * *

"I don't like leaving them," Tails said, pulling his namesakes around him shakily. "What if something happens?"

"They'll be okay," Rouge says softly, "as long as we keep the game going. If they're not back by the time it's Sonic's turn again, then we'll go find them."

"She's right," Manic speaks up, even though he sounded unsure. "If we stop playing to search for Sonic, then the curses will only get worse. We have to keep going."

It was ominous, but it wasn't like they had any choice.

"I say when this is over," Mighty huffs, crossing his arms as he leaned back in his chair, "we give the game to Eggman as a gift."

"We're going to permanently get rid of it," Sally frowns at him. "For all we know it could give Eggman more reasons to attack us."

"I agree," Sonia says with a sigh. "It needs to be taken care of properly. I've never questioned mother before but…" she rubs her eyes, shaking her head. "...what was she thinking, leaving this here?"

No one had an answer for her.

"It's Espio's, turn," Amy says quietly, to which the chameleon seemed to just then register.

"Good luck, buddy," Mighty says sarcastically, causing his friend to roll his yellow eyes and grab the die. He rolls a four and lands on a Truth, reaching over to grab the green card with hesitance.

"It says," he starts, holding it up with a frown, "'When you have to decide between two loyaltees, what would you choose? Your friends, or your family?'"

Espio's family lived out in the mountains, along with the entire clan of ninjas he was a part of. He passes a look to Mighty, who gave him a sad smile, before looking over at Knuckles, who looked away and shrugged.

He couldn't even decide. Friends or family? He visited his family whenever he could, and cared for them deeply, but he was always with his friends, working with them to do what he enjoys doing. They've all worked together to save the world countless times...but...family was…

He closes his eyes and takes in a deep breath. He thought of home, and if he could really live on without them. He could but...the pain would still be great…

"My friends," he finally says, much to everyone's surprise. "I would choose my friends."

"You're serious?" Mighty asks, sitting up to look at his friend, perplexed.

Espio nods. "I can't explain why, but I would choose you all, as hard as that choice would be."

"That's actually touching," the armadillo puts a hand on his chest, giving the other a goofy grin. "Means a lot to me though."

"Same here," Knuckles said, giving him an empathetic look. "It would be nice to have family, but I wouldn't trade my friends for that."

There was a melancholic feel to the atmosphere in the room, until the die is passed to Mighty, who grimaces when he takes it. Rolling it, he chuckles dryly.

"Ah, I just love that sound…" he says jokingly as the die rolls up a six, and he takes his own Truth card with a frown. "'You can either live alone, forever, or live with others, and cause them nothing but pain. Choose one.'"

"That's shitty," Rouge speaks up, putting her chin in her hands as she leans on the table.

"Yeah, right?" the red and black mobian mumbles. "I'd have to say live forever alone, but it would suck."

"We'd suck it up," Knuckles shrugs, smirking. "I'm sure it wouldn't be too bad."

"Makes me feel  _so_ much better," Mighty chuckles.

"I try."

Mighty hands the die to Sonia, suddenly thinking, "You know, that question wasn't so different from my first one, just different context."

"Are you worried you're going to be left alone?" Sally asks, causing the armadillo to frown.

"N...Not really. It's just...my strength gets out of hand sometimes, and I'm worried one of these days I might end up hurting someone."

"That's why we take you to hurt Eggman," Knuckles offers, making his friend smirk. "To blow some steam. If you ever feel bad, just look at Dark Sonic."

"True," Mighty laughs. "I guess I'll just ask for his advice."

They all hoped Sonic would be around soon  _to_ ask.

* * *

He wandered down the hall, opening up the doors and frowning at each room he ventured into. All the rooms looked like Sonic's, but they were all empty. He sped through each and every single one, until he found stairs leading down to another floor below, and he checked that hall and those rooms, too. He found more stairs and went down again, wondering how this was even possible. What else could the game's magic do? What if he didn't find Sonic within the hour? It's already been ten minutes...and with every second that passed he felt like someone was crushing his chest.

His crush on Sonic developed during the investigation that the prince had hired them for. He spent a week with just the hero himself trapped in an abandoned base they hadn't anticipated to still be somewhat active. With all the exits blocked out, and the building draining their Chaos Energy, they had to make their way out through the underground tunnel they found in the basement. It was hell on them, but they got to know each other, went through a lot together, and by the time they got out of there after a grueling seven, almost eight days, they had developed a bond between each other.

Working for Sonic was also so much better than working for G.U.N.

He was given his own Chaos Emerald, as was Rouge, and Omega received upgrades and new weapons from Tails that overly pleased the robot. They also had access to much more than they did with Towers, as Sonic had control over everything on the planet as the leader of Mobius. They found some things in G.U.N.'s database that were invaluable to Shadow regarding Professor Gerald and his past, and could take anything they wanted from the military and get away with it, because they worked for  _Sonic_.

They stayed in Mobotropolis, where Sonic gave Rouge the funds and building to open up a new Club Rouge, and Shadow was given a home on the outskirts of the city where it wasn't busy, and was far enough away from everyone but still be within arm's reach. They all had rooms in the castle in case they needed to be there, and Omega was given a room that he could practice firing and using his new weapons and charge up whenever he wanted.

Sonic spoiled them, and always had work to give to them to keep them busy, whether it was scouting a base, getting supplies, taking out a base, or retrieving a Chaos Emerald. He spent a lot of time with him, saw him sometimes more than he saw Rouge, and learned that he enjoyed every minute of it.

He liked when Sonic talked to him. He liked when he smiled at him, liked when he joked with him, ran with him, sparred with him, and being around him in general. He grew to look forward to his meetings with the prince, and despite suppressing all of these emotions, he knew he had developed feelings for him that he was sure could never be returned. Sonic was just too much like Maria to him, and he loved Maria with every fiber of his being. He didn't think the hedgehog would ever feel the same way about him, but that didn't stop him from wanting to be around him or work for him. There was even mention of Sonic making the Ultimate Lifeform head of the mobian military, since Sonia worked on the building and politics of their kingdom and Manic was more interested in working with the people and finances of Mobius. Sonic was the leader of the Resistance, but he wanted a Second in Command. Knuckles couldn't be because of his duties with the Master Emerald, and Tails was their mechanic and too young for such a title. He remembered when Sonic brought it up, thinking it was just a joke at first, and then Sonic laughed and said he was serious, he wanted Shadow to think on it.

It wouldn't happen until Sonic became King, but it was still an opportunity. If he was Sonic's right hand, he would have an excuse to always be around him. It wasn't even Sonic's personality or resemblance to Maria; Sonic was the only person that could match him in strength, speed, skill and Chaos Energy, and working with him always gave him that overpowering, godlike feeling, as if they could conquer anything they wanted to together without any problem.

He was good at hiding how he felt, but now it was going to be hard to cover himself. He should have just...answered the Truth. Why didn't he? Was he afraid to admit it? Yes, he thinks bitterly. There was no way Sonic would return his feelings, not with Sally and Blaze around. Even Amy had more of a chance than he did, and besides, it wasn't like he could bare children. If Sonic was expected to have children to continue the family line, then it wouldn't work, anyway. Unless Sonic gave up his title to his brother or sister, he would be stuck on the throne for the rest of his immortal life.

Would Sonic...even consider it? He frowns as he steps into another room, taking a second to shake his head. That wasn't important now, he had to find him. With no sign of the hero in this room, he skates out in a blur of gold and heads to the next.

* * *

"'If...If someone you loved more than anything, begged you to kill them because they were in immeasurable pain, would you do it, or let them suffer?'" Sonia reads, her voice wavering. It brought her back to a time, many years ago, when Sonic first went Dark… He was in so much pain, he wanted them to kill him. If their mother hadn't drained his energy and knew what to do…

Manic must be thinking the same thing, because he reminds her, "He's immortal, sis, don't think on bad memories."

Sonia nods and looks down, closing her eyes. "I know, but it doesn't change the fact that it happened. We didn't know Sonic was immortal at the time, and…"

"Well he is, so it's fine," Knuckles adds. "Take him off of that list, he doesn't count."

"I…" Sonia closes her eyes. "I would… I would only do it...if there wasn't any other way to help them. If we tried everything to help them and couldn't find an answer. It's not fair to them to live like that…"

Everyone is quiet, with Tails hugging himself and Manic looking away.

"...Sonic's gotten better controlling his Dark form…" Knuckles says quietly. "Eventually he'll be able to use it without any negative side effects."

"I hope so," Mighty adds, trying to lighten the mood, "because he's already a pain to fight as it is."

As Sally takes the die, she glances over at Amy next to her. "You've been quiet."

Amy blinks, realizing she has, playing with one of her long, thin quills nervously. "Just...worried about Sonic is all...and...we don't know what happened to Blaze…"

Another uneasy blanket of emotions laid on them all heavily. They almost forgot about Blaze, too.

"Shadow will find them both," Sonia tries. "I'm sure they're okay…" She wasn't, but she had to try to be.

Sally rolls the die and picks up her green card, nervous about what it would ask. She reads aloud, "'Would you be able to live through all the pain you've caused others yourself?'" she practically flinches at it, feeling guilt eat her away. "If I had to, I would," she admits, passing the die to Amy. She didn't want to discuss it anymore, and no one was going to force her.

Amy is shaky when she rolls the die and takes her card, reading it out loud as well. "'Do you believe certain things you do are excusable because it's towards a goal you want to achieve, even if it is delusional, or causes dimsay onto others?'" She tilts her head, frowning at it. "I don't...I don't know…"

What did she do that was delusional? Was she hurting others without knowing it? What could it possibly be asking…?

What was a goal she had? she thinks to herself. A goal…

Sonic…

The group watches her wince and she puts the card down, looking away. "If I ever hurt someone, it wouldn't be excusable."

Knuckles takes the die from her and gives her a questioning look, almost as if to ask if she was okay, before rolling up a one.

He forgot the game was going to make him pull a Dare card.

His Truth that he didn't answer was what the guiltiest thing he's ever done was, and he still didn't have the nerve to answer. He just hoped this Dare didn't make him do something that would make him feel worse…

He holds up the card, all eyes on him, and he reads it to himself, before freezing.

' _Since all your guilt was supposedly equal, let's give you something to feel so guilty about, you can answer the question properly.'_

"Knuckles?" Sonia asks, about to stand up. The echidna was pale, as if he was seeing a ghost.

' _Break Tails's arm.'_


End file.
